CA Unpub Decisions

William S. and Destiny A., parents of now three-year-old J.S., appealed from the juvenile court’s January 11, 2018, dispositional order removing J.S. from their custody. After reviewing the juvenile court record, court-appointed counsel informed this court they could find no arguable issues to raise on appellants’ behalf. This court granted appellants leave to personally file a letter setting forth a good cause showing that an arguable issue of reversible error exists.
Appellants filed letters claiming Destiny’s family orchestrated the circumstances that resulted in J.S.’s removal. They claim that they pose no danger to J.S. and her removal was unwarranted. William states they are moving to Oklahoma and want to take J.S. with them. They attached form documents used in civil pleadings to their letters as well as a “Request to Change Court Order” (JV-180) used in juvenile dependency proceedings to modify a prior court order.

Anna Frankman appeals from an order denying her motion to set aside the judgment resolving property and support issues in this marital dissolution action. Anna and her former husband, Donald, entered into a mediated marital settlement agreement (MSA), which Anna regretted almost immediately and attempted to withdraw from. However, over Anna’s opposition, the trial court granted Donald’s motion to enter judgment based on the MSA.
After the judgment became final, Anna moved to set it aside, renewing the arguments she had made in opposition to Donald’s motion to enter the judgment. The trial court denied Anna’s motion, finding that while the motion was timely, it amounted to nothing more than a request for reconsideration of the order entering judgment, which was final. The court also noted Anna had failed to establish any of the elements of extrinsic fraud.

A jury convicted appellant Jeffrey Brent Shackelford of transportation for sale of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379, subd. (a)/count 1), possession of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)), a lesser included offense of the possession for sale offense charged in count 2, possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)/count 3), and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle (§ 25400, subd. (a)(1)/count 4). On December 1, 2015, the court sentenced Shackelford to a prison term of three years consisting of the middle term of three years on count 1, time served on count 2, and concurrent two-year terms on each of his convictions in counts 3 and 4.

The juvenile court found true allegations defendant and appellant, R.L. (Minor), committed two counts of felony robbery (counts 1 & 2; Pen. Code, § 211) under an aiding and abetting theory. The court released Minor on probation. On appeal, Minor contends insufficient evidence supports the court’s findings. We affirm.

This case involves a petition for the return of two children pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention or the Convention). Plaintiff and respondent Eder Geovanni Guzman Estrada (father) caused the petition to be filed on the grounds that defendant and appellant Ana R. (mother) had wrongfully removed their children from his residence in Mexico. The trial court granted the petition and mother appeals, challenging the court’s decision. We find no merit to her challenge and affirm.

Defendant Abraham Pulchrio Arellano was charged with multiple offenses arising out of a 2016 incident in which he was alleged to have used force to sexually assault a 17-year-old girl in the back of his car. After two Marsden motions were denied, Arellano agreed to plead guilty to one count of forcible oral copulation (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (c)(2)(A)) with an attendant admission that he was ineligible for probation (Pen. Code, § 1203.065, subd. (a)). In exchange, the remaining charges against him were dismissed.
After his plea but before sentencing, Arellano brought a third Marsden motion to have his appointed counsel replaced. That motion was also denied. Based on his statements during the Marsden hearing, the trial court also denied a motion to withdraw his plea. It then sentenced him to a six-year prison term as stipulated in the plea agreement.

Following the denial of her motion to suppress (Pen. Code, § 1538.5), Jennifer Washington pled no contest to one count of bringing contraband into a prison (§ 4573, subd (a)). Pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Washington on three years formal probation, subject to various conditions. One such condition was that she serve 180 days, either in jail, or in a home detention monitoring program.
On appeal, Washington contends that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress. Specifically, she argues that her initial detention by a correctional officer while she was visiting a prison was unlawful, and that her subsequent admission to the officer that she possessed contraband was involuntary. In addition, Washington maintains that the prosecution failed to prove that she consented to a search pursuant to which a correctional officer obtained contraband from her person. We affirm the judgment.

In 2013, four teenagers were victims of a gang shooting at Libby Lake Park in Oceanside, California. Two of the four, 13-year-old Melanie V. and 15-year-old Edgar S., died from gunshot wounds at the scene. The other two teenagers, 17 year-old David G. and 17-year-old David R., sustained gunshot wounds, but survived. Weeks after the shooting, police received a tip confirming their suspicion that members of the Vista Home Boys gang were responsible for the crime. Kevin Brizuela, who was 17 years old at the time, and three other members of the gang were arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of premeditated attempted murder, as well as gang and firearm enhancements. The other defendants, Santo Diaz, Martin Melendrez, and Michael Zurita, eventually entered into plea agreements with the District Attorney, while Brizuela faced trial.

On November 23, 2015, around 11:00 p.m., defendant Warwick Charles Dinning, Joshua Marcus Bush, and Jeffery Alan Stringer entered the residence of Adam W. One of the men was armed with a handgun. The three had entered the home at the behest of Renae Disney, who had a dispute with Adam W. over payment to Disney for trimming and manicuring marijuana that he had grown. One of the robbers forced Jessica R. into a bedroom and ordered her face down, while the two other men forced Adam W. into the bathroom. Jessica R. later heard an altercation take place in the bathroom. She eventually ran out of the house and called the police.

In August 2017, defendant John Henry Kelly was driving a Honda with a value over $951 without the permission of the owner and with the intent to deny the owner possession of the vehicle. At the time, he had three prior felony convictions for unlawfully taking or driving a vehicle. He pled no contest to felony unlawful driving or taking a vehicle with the intent to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner, with a previous conviction.
In accordance with the plea, the trial court sentenced defendant to a term of four years in county jail with no mandatory supervision, ordered him to pay direct victim restitution of $350, a restitution fine of $300, a $40 court security fee, a $30 conviction assessment, and granted him 116 days of presentence custody credits.

A jury found defendant Joshua Phillip Lowery guilty of second degree murder with an enhancement for personal use of a deadly weapon, a hammer (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 12022, subd. (b)(1)). The trial court sentenced him to 16 years to life in state prison.
Defendant appeals, contending only that the trial court erred in admitting uncharged evidence of a 2008 battery. We shall affirm the judgment.

Defendant Luis Alberto Rodriguez appeals following his conviction by jury for possessing methamphetamine in state prison, focusing on the imposition of a prior strike sentence that followed. He raises a single issue on appeal: the voluntary and intelligent nature of his pretrial admissions to two prior strikes. He points to the seriously flawed advisement pursuant to Boykin v. Alabama (1969) 395 U.S. 238 (Boykin) and In re Tahl (1969) 1 Cal.3d 122 (Tahl) (Boykin/Tahl advisement) that accompanied his admissions. Because the errors in advisement, although serious, did not render defendant’s admissions involuntary or unknowing, we affirm the judgment.

Phillip B., father of three-year-old Grace C., appeals from the juvenile court’s order denying alleged paternal aunt Yvette H.’s Welfare and Institutions Code section 388 petition to have Grace placed with her. Father further appeals from the juvenile court’s section 366.26 order terminating his parental rights to Grace, claiming the Department of Children and Family Services (Department) failed to comply with its inquiry duties under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

Defendant and appellant Antonio Avila appeals from a conviction pursuant to a plea agreement of a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11370.1, subdivision (a). We affirm that conviction.