People v. Bryant CA2/1

BACKGROUND

I. The incident

On August 17, 2014, Dorothy Williams (Williams) called 911 from her apartment. According to the transcript of that call, Williams said that a man against whom she had a restraining order2 had walked into her apartment without her permission and, as a result, she had locked herself in the bathroom. While she was on the phone with the 911 operator, she repeatedly pleaded for the operator to tell the police to “hurry up.” In

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. 2 According to a protective order running from August 21, 2013 through August 21, 2016, Bryant was supposed to stay at least 100 yards away from Williams (the 2013 protective order). The court issued the 2013 protective order because there had been a domestic violence incident between Bryant and Williams, with Bryant hitting Williams.

2 addition, Williams was heard yelling, “Get away from me,” “Leave me alone,” “He’s hitting me!. . . . Help me! Help me!” “Oh, oh my God! Help me!” The transcript also recorded a man’s voice calling Williams a “dumb bitch,” a “stupid ass bitch,” and a “bitch,” and telling her to “sit you[r] ass there” and “get…