P. v. Armendariz

Filed 6/16/06 P. v. Armendariz CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. John M. Tomberlin, Judge. Affirmed.

Sharon M. Jones, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Sharon L. Rhodes, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Following a jury trial, defendant Daniel Armendariz was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender when he moved from San Bernardino to Victorville. (Pen. Code, § 290.^[1]) In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found that defendant had suffered three prior convictions, of which two qualified as strike priors, namely, a conviction for lewd acts upon children (§ 288(a)), and one conviction for manslaughter (§ 192.1). Defendant was sentenced to state prison for a term of 25 years to life. He appeals.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND AND FACTS

From 1998 to 2003, defendant registered as a sex offender in San Bernardino. The most recent registration form which defendant filled out indicated that he was living on East Ralston Avenue. Defendant was living with Sharon Barnes. However, according to Barnes, in June or July 2002, defendant moved to Victorville and took up residence with Pastor Rick Zamorano. First, defendant lived in the pastor's home for five or six months, then at his church, Victory Outreach, on Bonanza Road. Zamorano provided defendant with a key to the church. For approximately nine to 10 months, defendant slept at the church, kept his clothing and personal items there, and helped with various chores. Although defendant was living in Victorville, he would visit Barnes and, on one occasion in October 2003, he stayed for several days to help her clean up after the fire.

In November 2003, defendant spent his days at the Victorville Public Library where he volunteered. Occasionally, he posed as a staffer by shelving books and attempting to answer reference questions. During these times defendant groped women in the stacks of the library. When one of the women called the library to complain, the police were notified.

In June 2004, Barnes wrote a letter to the Department of Treasury indicating that defendant was a guest in her house and used her address for business purposes.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies tracked defendant to the Victory Outreach Church. When contacted, defendant claimed to have no identification, but he was in fact carrying his San Bernardino sex offender registrant card. The card had Barnes's address on East Ralston Avenue in San Bernardino. Defendant was also carrying a letter for food stamps from the Victorville City Office of Social Services. The letter was addressed to him at the Bonanza Road address. The deputies investigated where defendant was living and found that he was living at the Victory Outreach Church in Victorville. Mark Wine, a permits and registration officer for the San Bernardino Police Department, testified that he had personally spoken to defendant when defendant had previously registered as a sex offender. Although defendant had been verbally advised of his duty to register within five days of a move, and he had repeatedly initialed forms that advised him of this duty, he had not done so.

INSTRUCTIONAL ERROR

A. Section 290 Violation.

Defendant contends the jury was erroneously instructed on a section 290 offense.

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