People v. Pisano CA4/3

FACTS

The Prosecution Case One evening in 2018, a Huntington Beach police officer, Frank Gallant, was working at a DUI checkpoint. Defendant approached the checkpoint driving a Ford F250 truck. Gallant used his hands and flashlight to direct defendant to drive to the right where he would be evaluated. Defendant initially started to drive to the signaled area but then stopped driving. When defendant was a few feet away from Gallant, he held up his

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 (Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531. (Pitchess))

2 middle finger, pressed it against the driver’s door glass, and mouthed “Fuck you.” Defendant then drove toward Gallant accelerating at a “pretty high rate of speed” and causing Gallant to jump out of the way. Defendant continued to make eye contact with Gallant as he drove past him. When Gallant jumped out of the way, the side mirror of the truck was very close to Gallant’s head. Based on his training and experience in traffic collisions, Gallant believed he could have been seriously injured or killed. Gallant yelled at defendant to stop, but he continued driving and knocking over cones and delineators at 40 to 45…