From Bohana’s appeal: In 1994 appellant was dating Delores Jackson. On the night of August 26, 1994, Jackson arrived at appellant’s house for a late dinner. At 3:34 a.m. on August 27, appellant called 911 to report that “someone fell in my pool” and was “drowning.” Paramedics arrived at the house seven or eight minutes later and found appellant kneeling near Jackson. They were both nude. Jackson was lying on her back, with her head and neck propped up against a tree several yards away from the pool. She was not breathing and had no heart beat. Although the area underneath Jackson was wet, her skin was dry and cool to the touch, and her long hair was damp rather than wet. Jackson expelled a large amount of water and alcohol when a paramedic administered the first CPR compression. This indicated to the paramedic that no prior attempts had been made to resuscitate Jackson.
Paramedics remained at appellant’s house for about 30 minutes as they attempted, unsuccessfully, to revive Jackson. During this period, appellant went into the house to dress. He made at least two telephone calls before the ambulance left to take Jackson to the hospital. One of the paramedics testified that appellant had a “lost” expression on his face, appeared to be in a state of disbelief about what had happened, and seemed concerned about Jackson. Two others described appellant as nonchalant and unemotional.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrived at appellant’s home about 4:05 a.m. One deputy opined that appellant was drunk and described his demeanor as “belligerent and uncooperative.” Another testified that appellant did not appear to be intoxicated and that he was “dazed” and “withdrawn.” Appellant would not answer questions posed by the deputies but made telephone calls to family members during which he appeared to have no difficulty communicating.
About 7:45 a.m., appellant described the events preceding Jackson’s death to homicide detective David Watkins. According to appellant, Jackson arrived at his home about 10:30 p.m. They drank alcohol, talked, listened to music and danced for some time before disrobing and getting into the jacuzzi. They spent somewhere between 20 to 40 minutes in the jacuzzi and then swam to the deep end of appellant’s backyard swimming pool. Appellant eventually got out of the water and sat at a table while Jackson continued swimming. [84 Cal. App. 4th 365]
After Jackson swam to the deep end of the pool, she touched the pool light and turned to swim back toward the jacuzzi. Appellant noticed that Jackson was struggling under the water. He dove in to help her but she resisted. He was not able to bring her to the surface. Appellant got out of the water and retrieved a pool pole. He extended the pole to Jackson, so she could grab it. She did not. Appellant realized the pole was too short and dropped it in the water. He got another, longer pole with a leaf net attached to the end. Appellant tried to get Jackson to grab this pole, but she did not. At this point, appellant called 911. After giving his address, he ran back outside.
Appellant noticed that Jackson was no longer moving and was motionless at the bottom of the pool. He dove in again, put his hands underneath her arms, picked her up so that she was facing him, and swam to the surface of the water. Appellant placed Jackson on the deep-end deck. He did not describe how he got Jackson’s body out of the deep end of the pool. In that part of the pool, the water is eight feet, seven inches deep.
After appellant placed Jackson on the deck, he rolled her onto her stomach and pushed on her lower back in an effort to resuscitate her. When that failed, he rolled her on her back and applied pressure to her stomach. He also put his mouth on hers and tried to suck the water out of her lungs. Appellant was trying to resuscitate Jackson when the paramedics arrived. He did not answer their questions because he was “frightened.” Appellant said Jackson was a strong swimmer and had no idea why she drowned.
Dee Dee Jackson Foundation
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People of the State of California v Donald James Bohana 2000 (conviction and sentence affirmed)
INMATE INFORMATION
Inmate Name: BOHANA, DONALD JAMES
CDCR#: P22798
Age: 81
Admission Date: 12/17/1998
Current Location: Men’s Colony
