P. v. Gunsalus
Filed 5/23/13 P. v. Gunsalus CA1/2
California
Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or
relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except
as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This
opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for
purposes of rule 8.1115.
IN
THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIRST
APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION
TWO
THE PEOPLE,
Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
THOMAS
GUNSALUS,
Defendant and Appellant.
A135520
(Napa
County
Super. Ct.
Nos. CR159117, CR159743,
CR160216, CR160352, CR160388)
Defendant Thomas
Gunsalus appeals after entering into negotiated plea agreements in five
separate cases pending against him. His
appointed counsel has asked this court to independently examine the records in
accordance with People v. Wende (1979)
25 Cal.3d 436, to determine if there are any arguable issues that require
briefing. Defendant was apprised of his
right to file a supplemental brief,
but he did not do so. We have conducted
our review, conclude there are no arguable issues that require briefing, and affirm.
On October 18, 2011, defendant was
involved in an altercation with his ex‑girlfriend. The victim told the police that defendant had
pushed her down but that she did not suffer any
volunteered that he had marijuana in his pocket. The officer also found brass knuckles and a
knife in defendant’s pocket. Defendant
was on probation at the time.
Defendant was
charged with possession of a deadly
weapon (Pen. Code, § 12020, subd. (a)(1)
carrying a dirk and dagger (§ 12020,
subd. (a)(4)); misdemeanor battery domestic violence (§ 243, subd. (e)(1)); and
possession of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (b)). It was also alleged that defendant had three
prison priors (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) and three prior felonies (§ 1203, subd.
(e)(4)).
On November 2, 2011, defendant pleaded
no contest to misdemeanor possession of a deadly weapon and to an added count
of petty theft. He was placed on three
years formal probation with 30 days in jail and
On December 6, 2011 and February 3, 2012, the district
attorney filed petitions to revoke defendant’s probation on the ground that he
had failed to obey all laws.
On October 1, 2011, the Napa Police
Department received a report of a theft at a home in Napa. Sam Aldridge, the reporting party, explained
that she was a friend of the victim, Doug Bacca, who used to live at the home
with defendant. Bacca had suffered a
major head injury and had been hospitalized.
While he was in the hospital, he had been evicted. Bacca asked Aldridge to return to the home to
retrieve his belongs, and when she did, she discovered that a number of Bacca’s
possessions were missing. The missing
items included two guitars; a trumpet; jars of buffalo nickels, half silver
dollars, silver Merced dimes, and silver quarters; and $400 in cash. Aldridge told the police that she believed
defendant had either sold Bacca’s possessions at garage sales or had hocked
them. The manager of a Vallejo pawn shop
subsequently confirmed that defendant had pawned the instruments.
On December 3,
2011, police officers contacted defendant to speak to him about the case. He was then arrested for violating a
On December 6,
2011, defendant was charged with receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd.
(a)) and grand theft (§ 487, subd. (a)).
On August 4, 2011,
defendant went to the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) to transfer ownership of his 1993 Harley Davidson motorcycle
to Sandra Joan Chaussee in lieu of $200 rent he owed her. On the paperwork, he represented under
penalty of perjury that he had “lost†the certificate of title to the Harley. Unbeknownst to Chaussee, defendant had
previously signed the Harley over to Anne Sam R. Aldridge Bail Bonds as
collateral and had given Aldridge the original certificate of title.
On August 19,
2011, Aldridge went to the DMV to have her company’s name added to the
certificate of title as a lien holder.
She was told that defendant was no longer the registered owner of the
Harley. Aldridge filed a complaint with
the DMV, which conducted an investigation that it later forwarded to the Napa
County District Attorney’s Office.
On January 17,
2012, defendant was charged with perjury
(§ 118, subd. (a)); burglary (§ 459); and procuring and offering a false or
forged instrument (§ 115, subd. (a)).
On January 21,
2012, defendant was involved in another altercation with his girlfriend. Although they had been dating for three
years, they had restraining orders against each other. His girlfriend had been at home and when she
went outside, she saw defendant sitting in a pickup truck just down the street
from her house. Defendant told her to
get in the car because he wanted to talk to her and, though telling him she did
not want to, she complied. As soon as
she got into the car, defendant started yelling at her because he thought she
was seeing someone else. The victim’s
two daughters and one of their boyfriends came outside, and she yelled at them
to get the license plate number and call the police. When defendant drove away with her still in
his car, the victim grabbed the keys from the ignition and threw them out the
window. After the car came to a stop,
defendant started punching the victim in the face and then grabbed her by her
hair and pulled her from the truck. Once
outside, he began hitting and kicking her.
When her daughters intervened, defendant fled. The police responded to the scene, but they
were unable to locate defendant.
On February 1,
2012, defendant was charged with felony corporal injury to a spouse or
cohabitant (§ 273.5, subd. (a)) and disobeying a domestic relations court order
(§ 273.6, subd. (a)), with allegations that he had three prior felony
convictions.
On February 4,
2012, officers from the Napa Police Department were on routine patrol in a
marked police car when they spotted defendant driving down the street in a
pickup truck. They recognized him from
prior police contacts and knew that he was on probation with search and seizure
terms and had a suspended driver’s license.
After defendant failed to make a complete stop at an intersection, the
officers initiated a traffic stop. While
speaking with defendant, they noticed he was extremely nervous and fidgety and
was sweating profusely despite the cold weather. During a probation search of the truck, the
officers found a package of methamphetamine.
On February 7,
2012, defendant was charged with possession of a controlled substance (Health
& Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)) while on bail and with two prior felony
convictions, and driving on a license suspended due to a prior DUI conviction
(Veh. Code, § 14601.2, subd. (a)), with a prior conviction for driving on a
suspended license.
On March 19, 2012,
defendant entered into plea bargains resolving all pending cases.
In case no.
CR159117, defendant admitted the probation violation.
In case no.
CR159743, defendant pleaded no contest to receiving stolen property and
admitted a prison prior.
In case no.
CR160216, defendant pleaded no contest to falsifying or forging a
document.
In case no.
CR160352, defendant pleaded no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a
cohabitant, which was reduced to a misdemeanor pursuant to section 17,
subdivision (b).
In case no.
CR160388, defendant pleaded no contest to possession and driving on a suspended
license and admitted the special allegations.
On April 24, 2012,
the trial court sentenced defendant in all five cases.
In case no.
CR159117, the court ordered probation terminated.
In case no.
CR159743, the court sentenced defendant to the midterm of two years plus one
year consecutive for the prison prior, for an aggregate term of three years to
be served in the county jail, with half time credits and 18 months of the
sentence suspended, to be served on mandatory supervision. The court awarded 77 days credit for time
served plus 77 days conduct credit, for a total of 154 days credit.
In case no.
CR160216, the court sentenced defendant to eight months (one-third the
midterm), to be served consecutively to the sentence in case no. 159743 and in
the county jail pursuant to section 1170, subdivision (h)(5). The court awarded two days credit for time
served plus two days conduct credit, for a total of four days credit.
In case no.
CR160352, the court granted probation and issued a criminal protective order.
In case no.
CR160388, the court placed defendant on three years probation pursuant to
Proposition 36.
This timely appeal
followed.
The scope of
reviewable issues on appeal after a plea of no contest is restricted to matters
based on constitutional, jurisdictional, or other grounds going to the legality
of the proceedings leading to the plea; guilt or innocence are not
included. (People v. DeVaughn (1977) 18 Cal.3d 889, 895-896.) We conclude there were no arguable
irregularities in the proceedings.
Defendant’s guilty pleas complied with Boykin v. Alabama (1969) 395 U.S. 238 and In re Tahl (1969) 1 Cal.3d 122.
He was represented by competent counsel who zealously guarded his rights
and interests. The sentences imposed
were authorized by law.
Our independent
review having found no arguable issues that require briefing, the judgment of
conviction is affirmed.
_________________________
Richman,
J.
We concur:
_________________________
Haerle, Acting P.J.
_________________________
Lambden, J.
name="_ftn1" title="">[1] All
subsequent statutory references are to the Penal Code except as otherwise
noted.
name="_ftn2" title="">[2]
The court also ordered probation revoked and terminated in an additional case
involving a charge of driving on a suspended license (case no. CR152122). Defendant appealed that order to the
Appellate Department of the Napa County Superior Court.
