CA Unpub Decisions

A jury convicted defendants Jordy Roman Martinez, Juan Carlos Covarrubias, and Andrew Gomez Sanchez of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle (Pen. Code, § 246; count 4), and of being active participants in a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (a); count 5). The jury found defendants committed the shooting for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)), and that a firearm was discharged during the commission of that offense (§ 12022.53, subds. (c), (e)(l)). The court sentenced each defendant to prison for 15 years to life.

Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, defendant and appellant Jose Lopez pled guilty to one count of attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187, subd. (a)). He also admitted that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)) in the commission of the attempted murder. In return, the remaining allegations were dismissed and defendant was sentenced to a total stipulated term of 29 years (the upper term of nine years for the attempted murder plus a consecutive term of 20 years for the firearm allegation) in state prison with 1,067 days credit for time served. Defendant appeals from the judgment. Based on our independent review of the record, we find no error and affirm the judgment.

In 2014, a jury convicted defendants and appellants Venda Johnson and James Lemon of the 1995 murder of an unarmed pizza delivery driver during the course of an attempted robbery. The jury also found true that a principal was armed with a firearm in the commission of the offense. Johnson, the shooter, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Lemon was sentenced to a term of 25 years to life.

While trying to return a stray dog to its owner, Shasta County Animal Control Officer Jeremy Ashbee encountered defendant Lynn Arlen Hamilton, who was the passenger in a car that blocked the officer’s vehicle and prevented him from leaving. Defendant got out of the car and verbally confronted the officer about taking the dog.
Based on the incident, defendant was convicted of false imprisonment by violence and threatening a public officer. (Pen. Code, §§ 236 & 71.) In a separate proceeding, the trial court found defendant committed the offenses while released on bail or on his own recognizance for another felony offense. (§ 12022.1.) The court suspended imposition of a three-year sentence for the false imprisonment offense and a concurrent eight months for the threat conviction, and placed defendant on formal probation, which included a condition to serve 365 days in county jail.

Daniela Guzman was convicted of second degree murder and conspiracy to commit assault, a lesser included offense of conspiracy to commit murder, for her role in the 2010 death of Justice Afoa. The jury also found true the allegations that she committed both crimes for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The trial court sentenced her to 15 years to life in prison for the murder and stayed the remaining sentences.

An information charged defendant and appellant Henry Louis Gonzales with one count of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211). The jury found Gonzales guilty as charged, and the court sentenced him to five years in state prison.
On appeal, defendant contends his trial was rendered fundamentally unfair when the court denied his motion in limine to exclude evidence that he was a documented gang member, despite the fact that he was neither charged with a gang crime nor gang enhancement nor was there any evidence of gang activity or involvement in connection with the robbery. We agree and reverse his conviction.

Lee Denver Ford, Jr. appeals from his sentence, following his guilty plea to one count of residential burglary. He contends that the trial court erred in imposing a criminal protective order, and that he is entitled to ten additional days of conduct credit. The People concede the sentencing errors. Accordingly, we will modify appellant’s sentence to delete the protective order and to award an additional ten days of conduct credit.

On June 14, 2013, a felony complaint charged defendant and appellant Hector Julio Figueroa with lewd act on a child under the age of 14 years (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a); counts 1, 2, 4); annoying a child under the age of 18 years (Pen. Code, § 647.6, subd. (a)(1); counts 3, 5); and contact with a minor to commit a sexual offense (Pen. Code, § 288.3, subd. (a); count 6).

Appellant Gregory Arthur Erwin was convicted by jury of committing violent felonies against two young women he solicited for sexual services. He was sentenced to 177 years 8 months to life in state prison. Appellant denied raping and robbing the two women and claimed that the encounters were consensual. We independently reviewed the record on appeal, and appellant’s supplemental brief, but found no arguable issues. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, 441-442, fn. 3.) We affirm.

In 2015 Leonard Crozier was dating Quaneshia G. and frequently stayed at her apartment when she was gone during the day. One evening Quaneshia returned home and found Crozier sitting on the couch. Crozier began yelling at Quaneshia and threatened to kill her. Because Crozier had previously hit her, Quaneshia became nervous and fled from the apartment. Crozier followed her outside, pushed her into a fence, breaking it, and began to choke her. Quaneshia agreed to return to the apartment, and Crozier loosened his grip. Quaneshia broke away and ran to a group of neighbors, while Crozier pursued her. One of the neighbors told Quaneshia to lock herself inside the neighbor’s house. Crozier threatened to shoot up the house if Quaneshia did not come outside. Two of the neighbors called the police.

On August 5, 2016 Tommy Cole filed an application to reclassify his 1995 felony conviction for possession of a driver’s license with the intent to use it to facilitate the commission of a forgery (Pen. Code, § 470b) as a misdemeanor under Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Pen. Code, § 1170.18). The trial court denied the application, ruling the offense was not eligible for reclassification as a misdemeanor under Proposition 47 and, in any event, Cole’s prior murder conviction (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) made him ineligible for relief under the statute (see Pen. Code, § 1170.18, subd. (i)). Cole filed a timely notice of appeal, challenging the order denying his application.

In May of 2003, two adults and a child were found shot to death in the bathroom of an apartment. Investigators discovered fragments of a latex glove on tape that had been used to bind one of the victim’s wrists and mouth. Although DNA evidence was extracted from the glove fragments, no suspects were identified. Five years after the murders were committed, the Los Angeles Police Department received information indicating that defendant Robin Cho, a resident of the apartment building where the crimes had occurred, was a possible contributor to the DNA found on the glove fragments. Cho was eventually charged with three counts of murder.

Defendant Desi Cardenas III was tried and convicted by jury of possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, former § 12021, subd. (a)(1); count 6). In addition, the jury found true a gang enhancement allegation (§ 186.22, subd. (b)). The jury deadlocked on the following charges: murder (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1), two counts of attempted murder (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a); counts 2 & 3), shooting at an inhabited dwelling (§ 246; count 4), and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle (§ 246; count 5).

A person who has been convicted of a registrable offense under the Sex Offender Registration Act (Pen. Code, § 290 et seq.) (the Act), and who has been incarcerated for over 30 days, is required to register as a sex offender in accordance with the Act, or reregister if the person previously registered, within five working days of the date the person is released from incarceration (§ 290.015, subd. (a)).
In this case, a jury found defendant and appellant, Brian Jeffrey Brown, guilty as charged of violating section 290.015, subdivision (a) of the Act. The court found defendant had two prison priors (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) and sentenced defendant to four years in prison: two years for the failure-to-register conviction plus two years for the two prison priors.