CA Unpub Decisions

Defendant and appellant Dean Edward Manes (defendant) appeals from the denial of his motion to reduce his convictions of forgery and identity theft to misdemeanors under Proposition 47. As defendant relies on unsettled authority published after he filed the notice of appeal, and the record on appeal is inadequate to consider defendant’s contention, we affirm the court’s order without prejudice to the filing of a new motion.

Plaintiff Jay Wanlass filed suit against numerous defendants based on alleged exposure to friable asbestos. Defendant Metalclad Insulation Corp. (Metalclad) moved for summary judgment, which the trial court (the Honorable Teri Jackson) granted. Wanlass appeals from the judgment We affirm.

A jury convicted Jae Jeong Lyu, a massage therapist, of several crimes arising out of a sexual assault on one of his clients during a massage. The trial court refused to give jury instructions on any lesser included offenses, even though the prosecutor requested instructions on some of them. Because there was substantial evidence to support instructions on lesser included offenses of one of the charges, and because the trial court’s failure to give those instructions was not harmless, we conditionally reverse one of the convictions and remand for a possible new trial on that charge, and for resentencing. Otherwise, we affirm.

Defendant Ryann Lynn Jones was acquitted of first degree murder of three-year-old Natalynn Miller but was found guilty at the conclusion of a jury trial on December 20, 2013, of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); count 1) and assault causing the death of a child (§ 273ab, subd. (a); count 2). The jury found not true a special circumstance allegation for torture alleged in count 1. On February 19, 2014, the trial court sentenced defendant to prison for a term of 25 years to life for assault causing the death of a child and to a term of 15 years to life for second degree murder, which was stayed pursuant to section 654. The court granted defendant actual custody credits of 1,793 days, conduct credits of 267 days, and total custody credits of 2,060 days. In a subsequent order, the trial court struck defendant’s conduct credits pursuant to section 2933.2.

Defendant Jon Reno St. James was the owner of a business called Party Bus of Santa Cruz. The decedent, Natasha Noland, was a passenger on one of defendant’s party buses on July 27, 2012. Noland was involved in an altercation with another passenger, Colleen Martinez, when the two fell out the bus’s faulty passenger door. The bus ran over Noland, who died. Martinez survived the fall with serious injuries. Defendant was not present at the time of Noland’s death, but he had known for several months before the fatal accident that the passenger door on that bus was not operating properly and would sometimes open while the bus was carrying passengers. After a jury trial, defendant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (b)) and sentenced to a jail term of four years.

Defendant Desmond A. Henry was convicted of six offenses related to the late-night robbery and beating of a shop owner. On appeal, defendant contends that there is insufficient evidence he acted for a sadistic purpose; that there is insufficient evidence to support the court’s conclusion defendant was competent to stand trial; and that we must strike his conviction for battery with serious bodily injury (count 8) because it is a lesser-included offense of simple mayhem (count 9). Defendant also asks us to review the in camera proceedings conducted by the trial court pursuant to his motion for production of documents under Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531 (Pitchess) and to review the restitution proceedings under the procedures in People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.
We hold there is insufficient evidence that defendant acted with the specific intent required for torture, and reverse that count, but conclude the sentence imposed for count 8, the Pitchess hearing, a

A jury convicted Renan Roman Haro of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) ), and found that he personally discharged a firearm that caused death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). Haro admitted to a prior serious felony conviction that qualified as a strike (§§ 667, subds. (a)(1), (b)-(j), 1170.12, subd. (b)). The trial court sentenced him to prison for a term of 80 years to life.
On appeal, Haro claims that three statements the prosecutor made in closing argument constituted prejudicial misconduct and that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to object to the prosecutor’s comments. Haro makes an additional claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on his attorney’s failure to request a limiting instruction on evidence of uncharged misbehavior by Haro that was introduced at trial. Haro’s claims lack merit. Therefore, we affirm the judgment.

Brian Richard Dorish molested his girlfriend’s young son over a two-year period. A jury convicted him of seven sexual offenses, and the court sentenced him to an aggregate term of 50 years-to-life in prison. On appeal, Dorish contends the trial court erred by denying his pretrial discovery request for a DNA database search of genetic material collected from a semen stain found in one of the many locations Dorish molested his victim. Testing revealed the DNA did not belong to Dorish, the victim, or the victim’s biological parents. Dorish argues the court’s ruling violated his state and federal due process rights, depriving him of a fair trial because he had no opportunity to identify “the specific third person or persons responsible for and linked to the crimes for which [he] stood accused, and for which he now stands convicted, with the result that [he] will serve the rest of his natural life living on the taxpayers’ dime in a level four California State Prison facility.

A jury convicted defendant Benjamin Jerry Burmley of continuous sexual abuse of a child (Pen. Code, § 288.5; count 4) and three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct upon a child (§ 288, subd. (a); counts 1 through 3). The jury found the defendant engaged in substantial sexual conduct against the victim and that the multiple-victim circumstance applied.

Defendant Bobby Darren Baker, a juvenile, was charged with the murder of Richard Zepeda in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) [count 1]) and gang conspiracy (§ 182.5 [count 2]). In connection with count 1, it was alleged he committed the offense for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)) and a principal personally and intentionally discharged a firearm and proximately caused Richard’s death (§ 12022.53, subds. (d) & (e)(1)). In connection with counts 1 and 2, it was alleged defendant himself personally and intentionally discharged a firearm and proximately caused Richard’s death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)).
The jury found defendant guilty of the lesser included offense of second degree murder on count 1 and guilty as charged on count 2. It found true only the gang and vicarious firearm discharge allegations on count 1. The trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of 40 years to life: 15 years to life on count

The trial court ordered David N. Sparks to pay a portion of the attorney fees incurred by his ex-wife, Julie A. Sparks, in litigating postjudgment matters. The court’s attorney fees award was based both on Julie’s financial need, and on David’s vexing conduct, pursuant to Family Code sections 2032 and 271, respectively. (All further statutory citations are to the Family Code.) David challenges the attorney fees award on appeal. We conclude the trial court did not err in making the award on either ground set forth in the court’s order; therefore, we affirm.

Petitioner is the mother of one-year-old J.D., a dependent of the juvenile court. She has filed a petition for extraordinary writ pursuant to rule 8.452 of the California Rules of Court challenging the juvenile court’s February 15, 2017 order terminating her reunification services and setting a hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26. We conclude there is substantial evidence supporting the juvenile court’s decision that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) provided reasonable services. We therefore deny the petition.

Father D.L. appeals from a dispositional order which placed his daughter, Maliyah L., with him under Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.2. Father asserts the court abused its discretion by not terminating jurisdiction after placing Maliyah with him and by ordering him to parenting classes. We affirm.

Elias A. (Father) and Allison W. (Mother) are the parents of M.A., who was just over two years old at the time the juvenile court found him to be a dependent child and assumed jurisdiction to ensure his well-being. The court’s jurisdiction findings were predicated on allegations of domestic violence between Mother and Father, as well as allegations that marijuana use by Mother and Father rendered them incapable of providing regular care for M.A. Father does not challenge the juvenile court’s finding that the violent altercations he had with Mother warranted dependency jurisdiction; instead, he challenges only the finding that his marijuana use placed M.A. at risk of harm. We consider whether to exercise our discretion to review the single jurisdiction finding Father contests.