P. v. Arrington
Filed 1/23/07 P. v. Arrington CA5
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RICHARD WAYNE ARRINGTON, Defendant and Appellant. | F049295 (Super. Ct. No. BF110305A)
O P I N I O N |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. Jon E. Stuebbe, Judge.
Michelle E. Guardado, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Mary Jo Graves, Assistant Attorney General, Louis M. Vasquez and Brian Alvarez, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
-ooOoo-
Appellant Richard Arrington was found guilty of displaying a falsified registration tag on his vehicle with intent to defraud in violation of Vehicle Code section 4463, subdivision (a). Although the tag was admittedly a fake, the date depicted on the tag was not current. Thus, appellant contends he could not have fooled or defrauded anyone. He appeals on the grounds that (1) there was no substantial evidence that he displayed the registration tag with intent to defraud, (2) the trial court prejudicially admitted hearsay evidence regarding the date of the vehicle's last registration, and (3) the trial court should have granted his Wheeler-Batson[1] motion. We will affirm the judgment.
PROCEDURAL SUMMARY
On June 28, 2005, the Kern County District Attorney filed an information charging appellant with grand theft (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. (a)) (count one); possession of ammunition by a felon (Pen. Code, § 12316) (count two); displaying a false registration tag with intent to defraud (Veh. Code, § 4463, subd. (a)) (count three); and receiving stolen property (Pen. Code, § 496, subd. (a)) (count four).
A jury trial commenced on August 29, 2005. Appellant made an unsuccessful Wheeler-Batson motion based on the prosecution's apparent exclusion of Hispanics from the jury. On September 2, 2005, the jury convicted appellant of the offense charged in count three (i.e., false registration tag), but acquitted him of the charges in count two. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on counts one and four, so the court declared a mistrial as to those counts. On November 16, 2005, the court sentenced appellant on count three to a term of two years.
On November 18, 2005, prior to retrial of the deadlocked counts, appellant pled no contest to grand theft in return for a two year â€
