P. v. Thomas
Filed 6/2/06 P. v. Thomas CA5
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JAMES ALLEN THOMAS, Defendant and Appellant. | F046461
(Super. Ct. No. MCR017296)
O P I N I O N |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Madera County. Thomas L. Bender, Judge.
Victor Blumenkrantz, 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, Clayton S. Tanaka and Paul A. Bernardino, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
INTRODUCTION
Appellant James Allen Thomas sold .28 grams of rock cocaine to an undercover police officer. He was convicted after jury trial of selling cocaine base; the court found true three prior strikes and one prior prison term allegation. Following denial of appellant's motion to dismiss the prior strikes pursuant to People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497 (the Romero motion), appellant was sentenced to 26 years to life imprisonment.
Appellant argues defense counsel was ineffective because he did not move to suppress Agent Fuerte's identification testimony and did not attempt to preclude scattered general references to appellant's prior criminality. He also challenges denial of the Romero motion as an abuse of discretion and argues his sentence constitutes cruel and/or unusual punishment under our state and federal Constitutions. None of these arguments are persuasive. We will affirm.
FACTS
In July 2003 the Madera County Narcotics Enforcement Team conducted an undercover operation in McNally Park. Agent Alfredo Fuerte participated in 17 controlled drug buys during this operation. He drove an undercover vehicle equipped with a concealed audio and video recording device and he wore a concealed audio wire device during the drug buys.
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on July 21, 2003, Agent Fuerte drove to McNally Park. He asked a Black male for â€
