CA Unpub Decisions

Defendant Jose Armando Zelaya appeals from a judgment entered after we vacated his sentence and remanded to the trial court for resentencing. In our prior opinion, we held the trial court had erred by imposing a sentence based on a prior-conviction allegation that we found had been neither tried nor proven. (People v. Zelaya (Oct. 23, 2015, B256544) [nonpub. opn.] 2015 WL 6441462 (Zelaya I).) On remand, however, it was discovered that a key portion of the reporter’s transcript—namely, the oral proceeding of the priors trial—had not been transcribed and therefore was not before us on appeal. The trial court therefore reviewed the transcript of the priors trial, corrected its erroneous minute order nunc pro tunc, and then re-imposed the vacated sentence based on defendant’s prior conviction.

Defendant and appellant Manuel Trejo pleaded guilty to, among other things, second degree robbery. He was sentenced as a second striker. On appeal, Trejo contends that the trial court misunderstood the scope of its discretion when denying his Romero motion. We disagree, and therefore we affirm the judgment.

Travis's appointed counsel has filed a brief presenting no argument for reversal, and inviting this court to review the record for error in accordance with People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). After having independently reviewed the entire record for error as required by Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 (Anders) and Wende, we affirm.

Defendant Edward Lewis Thomas repeatedly molested his daughter for 10 years, beginning when she was four or five years old. He admitted his conduct in a pretextual telephone call with his daughter and in a letter to her mother. A jury convicted defendant of nine counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child. The court sentenced him to a total indeterminate sentence of 135 years to life.

James Stanton appeals the trial court’s order denying his petition for resentencing under Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Pen. Code, § 1170.18). In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in People v. Gonzales (2017) 2 Cal.5th 858 (Gonzales), we reverse.

Appointed counsel for defendant Thomas Samuel has filed an opening brief setting forth the facts of the case and asking us to review the record to determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) After reviewing the entire record, we affirm the judgment.

Appellant Robert Gonzalez Saenz appeals the denial of his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.26. Saenz challenges both the test applied by the trial court, and its exercise of discretion. We affirm.

In 1984, defendant James Scott Rowton, Sr., was convicted of molesting his daughters and sent to state prison. After he got out of prison, he fathered another daughter, J.R., and later molested her too. Convicted of eight sexual offenses against J.R. and sentenced to an aggregate term of 350 years to life in state prison, defendant appeals.
We conclude that four of the eight convictions must be reversed because the prosecution did not prove the crimes were committed within the time period and at the pertinent age of the victim alleged in the information. We also conclude that some of the findings as to defendant’s prior convictions were not supported by the evidence. We therefore affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate the sentence, and remand for resentencing.

On March 13, 2013, defendant Michael Alexander Rivera took a laptop computer from a dance studio in Alhambra. When the owner of the computer followed him outside and confronted him, Rivera punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground, and kicked him. Rivera then fled, but the police located him, recovered the computer, and placed him under arrest.
Rivera was charged by amended information with second degree robbery (Pen. Code, § 211). It was further alleged that in case number GA071240, Rivera suffered three prior serious felony convictions for purposes of section 667, subdivision (a)(1), three serious or violent felony convictions for purposes of the three strikes law (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)), and one prior conviction for which he served a prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)).

Defendant Corey Nevin Marshall was convicted by jury trial of five counts of oral copulation of a person under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (c)(1)), five counts of lewd conduct on a child under the age of 14 (§ 288, subd. (a)), five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (§ 261.5, subd. (d)), one count of sodomy on a person under the age of 14 (§ 286, subd. (c)(1)), two counts of sexual penetration of a person under the age of 14 (§ 289, subd. (j)), and one count of attempting to dissuade a witness (§ 136.1, subd. (a)(2)). The jury also found true strike allegations (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12), one-strike allegations (§ 667.61, subds. (a), (c), (d), (j)(1)), and prior sex offense conviction allegations (§§ 667.51, subd. (a), 667.6, subd. (a)). Defendant was sentenced to 132 years to life.

Defendant Michael Adam Jordan pleaded no contest to false identification to an officer, a misdemeanor (Pen. Code, § 148.9, subd. (a)) and was convicted by a jury of receiving a stolen vehicle (§ 496d, subd. (a)). The trial court sustained a strike (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12) and two prior prison term allegations (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) and sentenced defendant to six years in state prison.
On appeal, defendant contends the receiving conviction should have been sentenced as a misdemeanor pursuant to Proposition 47. We shall affirm.

Defendant Charles Edward Jones appeals from the judgment following a court trial in which he was convicted of attempted first-degree murder (count 1) and child abuse (count 2). (Pen. Code, §§ 664, 187, subd. (a), 189, 273a, subd. (a).) He raises issues of improper impeachment, prejudicial legal error, discovery violation, and ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no error, we affirm.

On May 20, 2015, a jury found appellant Jose Filiberto Hernandez guilty of personally using a knife to commit first degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 12022, subd. (b)(1)), and misdemeanor child endangerment (§ 273a, subd. (b)). On June 30, 2015, the court sentenced Hernandez to an aggregate term of 26 years to life, consisting of an indeterminate term of 25 years to life for murder plus a consecutive term of one year for the knife enhancement. The court did not impose custodial time for the child endangerment conviction.

Defendant Dakota Danial Hayward appeals his conviction for first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) and related firearm enhancement findings (§§ 12022, subd. (a)(1), 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022.53, subds. (b)-(d)). He contends that evidence the victim was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the killing was improperly excluded. We shall conclude that the contention has merit, and that it is reasonably probable the jury would have acquitted defendant of first degree murder, convicted him of second degree murder or involuntary manslaughter, and found all but one of the firearm enhancements not true in the absence of the error. Accordingly, we shall reverse the judgment.