CA Unpub Decisions

Seventeen-year-old G.C. went to codefendant Richard Ramirez’s house to pay off a debt owed by a family member. Ramirez was a drug dealer. When G.C. arrived, Cervantes and Stanley Cruz (another codefendant) accosted G.C., asking him where he was from, and demanding that he show any gang tattoos. When G.C. said he was from the City of Artesia but not in any gangs, Cervantes and Cruz blocked G.C.’s exit path. The defendants were members of gangs hostile to a gang from Artesia. Cervantes went to summon Ramirez. When Ramirez learned that G.C. was from Artesia, he told Cervantes to fetch some rope and tape, which he did, and ultimately G.C. was killed with a lethal dose of heroin. Cervantes then helped dispose of the body and later attempted to clean the scene of the crime to destroy any evidence.

On January 3, 2019, a felony complaint was filed in the Superior Court of Kern County, case No. RF008109A, charging appellant with count 1, transportation of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379, subd. (a)); count 2, possession of methamphetamine for sale (Health and Saf. Code, § 11378); count 3, bringing a controlled substance into jail or prison (Pen. Code, § 4573); and count 4, misdemeanor driving with a suspended or revoked license (Veh. Code, § 14601.1, subd. (a)).
On January 8, 2019, appellant pleaded no contest in case No. RF008109A to count 3, bringing a controlled substance into jail or prison, and count 4, misdemeanor driving with a suspended or revoked license, for an indicated disposition of probation for three years on condition of serving one year in jail, plus dismissal of counts 1 and 2 and two pending misdemeanor cases.
Sentencing Hearing
On February 5, 2019, the court held the sentencing hearing in case No. RF008109A.

Correctional Officers Garcia, Prieto, and Dominguez reported they were on duty in the recreation yard at Kern Valley State Prison on October 29, 2021, when they observed three inmates, identified as appellant Aldrete and codefendants Jonathon Pedraza and Richard Perez, attack inmate Luis Mariscal with what appeared to be weapons. Mariscal was lying on the ground in the fetal position and covering his head. The three suspects stood over Mariscal and were repeatedly striking his face and upper torso in downward, stabbing-type motions, with what appeared to be inmate-made weapons.
The officers ordered all inmates in the yard to get down to the ground. Everyone complied except appellant, Pedraza, and Perez. The three suspects ignored the repeated orders and continued to attack Mariscal. The prison staff fired nonlethal impact rounds at the three suspects, and they finally stopped attacking Mariscal and assumed the prone position on the ground.

A jury convicted defendant Richard Yanez Castillo, Jr., of one count of assault with a deadly weapon (count 1) with a gang enhancement, and one count of gang participation (count 2) after multiple inmates attacked a fellow inmate in their prison unit. Defendant admitted he had two prior serious felony convictions within the meaning of Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a)(1) that also qualified as strike offenses. The court denied defendant’s motion to strike his prior strikes and sentenced defendant to 25 years to life in prison for the assault conviction. This term was enhanced by an additional five years for one prior serious felony enhancement and another five years for a gang enhancement. The court also sentenced defendant to 25 years to life on the substantive gang conviction plus an additional five years for one of the prior serious felony enhancements, and ordered that term to run concurrently with defendant’s sentence for assault.

Defendant Amador Socorro Huerta pled no contest to charges in two criminal cases related to separate incidents of domestic violence and child endangerment. On appeal, defendant contends that (1) his term of imprisonment for contempt of a court order must be reduced from five years to the statutory maximum of three years; (2) various fines and fees must be stricken because they were not ordered by the court in its oral pronouncement of sentence; (3) his sentence must be vacated and the matter remanded in light of Assembly Bill No. 124’s (2021–2022 Reg. Sess.) (Assembly Bill 124) amendments to Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (b)(6); and (4) his sentence must be vacated and the matter remanded in light of Senate Bill No. 567’s (2021–2022 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 567) amendments to section 1170, subdivision (b)(1) through (b)(3).

On July 22, 2020, at approximately 12:08 p.m., Sonora police officers Thomas Brickley and Priscilla Carrasco were dispatched to a Rite Aid store in Sonora. The store manager had reported that a female, identified at trial as Ireland, was causing a disturbance inside the store; she was screaming and yelling, and bothering customers. Upon arrival, the officers contacted Ireland, who was sitting outside the store.
Ireland told the police officers she wanted to talk to Sergeant Speers of the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office and requested a ride to his house. Officer Brickley told her he would issue a trespass letter and thereafter she would have to leave the Rite Aid. Ireland replied, “that’s not how this works,” and began to walk away. When the officers told her to stop, she responded with profanity and assumed a confrontational stance.

On January 13, 2018, defendant and two other people—Joie Carrell, who was a fellow gang member, and a woman—went to the house of the victim, who was allegedly having a sexual relationship with Carrell’s minor daughter. Defendant and Carrell entered the victim’s garage and a fight ensued between Carrell and the victim. Carrell stabbed the victim, then took his motorcycle, a drill, and Carrell’s daughter’s backpack. Carrying a helmet, defendant left with Carrell.
On October 7, 2019, the Fresno County District Attorney filed a 39-count information against defendant and four codefendants. The information charged defendant with home invasion robbery (Pen. Code, § 211; count 3) and further alleged defendant committed the offense in concert with two other people (§ 213, subd. (a)(1)(A)) and committed the offense for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(4)(B)).

On June 11, 2020, S.D. was at a residence with defendant and another individual. S.D. was in the bathroom while defendant was in the kitchen fixing a broken box cutter. As S.D. straightened her hair, defendant stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched her. S.D. felt defendant come toward her. She backed up against the wall and noticed she was bleeding. S.D. collapsed to the floor “into a ball” and laid in a fetal position, yelling to the other individual in the residence for help.
As S.D. called 911, defendant fled the residence in a red truck. He was arrested at a motel the next day.
S.D. sustained a cut to her left facial nerve and her trachea. She spent three days in the hospital, underwent surgery, and received twenty-two staples to close the wound.

On June 22, 2020, an information was filed in the Superior Court of Tulare County charging defendant with committing the following offenses between September 1 and December 1, 2018: counts 1 through 17, commission of lewd acts on a child, J.B., under the age of 14 years, with each offense alleged to have been committed at specific times and places (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)); and count 18, contact with a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense (ibid.). As to counts 1 through 8, it was further alleged defendant engaged in substantial sexual contact with the victim (§ 1203.066, subd. (a)(8)). Defendant pleaded not guilty and denied the special allegations.
Pretrial Hearings About Possible Plea Offer
On September 3, 2020, the court convened a status conference; defendant was not present. The court stated it would approve a negotiated plea for a sentence of 15 years. The prosecutor objected, and the court stated the plea would have to be to all the charges.

On the evening of November 3, 1995, David (“Pimp Dog”) Forrest, Patrick (“Fat Pat” or “Gangster Fan Pack”) Hull, Lorraine Murphy, and about 15 to 20 others were standing outside Norm’s Market on the comer of 8th and L Streets in Bakersfield. Forrest and his friends were associated with the Warlord Blood gang, and the market was a Blood hangout.
Forrest entered the market and bumped into Wenoka Johnson as she walked out of the door. Wenoka was an associate of the Westside Crips, a rival gang. Wenoka told Forrest the market was Westside Crip territory and Forrest laughed. Wenoka voiced her surprise that Forrest was still alive because Forrest had been shot on two previous occasions. Forrest replied that he was still around, and Wenoka said, “ ‘You should have been dead a long time ago, Pimpy Dog.’ ” Forrest pushed Wenoka, and she hit Forrest. They shoved each other around, and Wenoka finally walked away.

In 1999, a jury found defendant not guilty of first degree murder, but guilty of second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1) and found true allegations he personally used a firearm during the commission of the murder in violation of section 12022.5, subdivision (a); he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm which proximately caused great bodily injury or death to another person, not an accomplice, during the commission of the murder in violation of section 12022.53, subdivision (d); and that he committed the murder for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang in violation of section 186.22, subdivision (b). The court sentenced defendant to 15 years to life on count 1, plus 25 years to life for the section 12022.53, subdivision (d) firearm enhancement, and an additional year for a prior prison enhancement pursuant to section 667.5, former subdivision (b).

Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence pursuant to section 1538.5 to challenge his detention, which was conducted without a search warrant.
On June 13, 2019, a motel clerk in Kern County told a potential customer she could not rent him a room. He became angry. He threatened to have someone “take care of her” and threatened to throw gasoline on the motel’s air conditioning units and set them on fire. He then left the motel. The clerk called law enforcement. Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Nakabayashi received the call from dispatch and arrived at the motel at approximately 9:55 p.m. The clerk gave him a description of the suspect, and he reviewed the motel’s surveillance video footage showing the suspect.
Nakabayashi testified that the suspect “had a thin build. He was tall. He was wearing a black shirt, dark pants, red hat, and had a white shopping bag, and a dark shoulder bag.”

To recapitulate, in the underlying probate court case, which was brought pursuant to Probate Code section 850, the probate court entered judgment in favor of petitioner/respondent Dustin Cockren, finding that decedent William Rommel intended to, and did, convey his oil and gas lease and the underlying oil and gas rights to his revocable living trust, and that such assets, along with the royalty payments generated by the lease, should have been distributed after his death to the named beneficiary in the trust instrument and then to Dustin.
The probate court determined the co-trustees had acted in bad faith by misappropriating the royalty payments generated by the oil and gas lease at issue (Rommel had entered into the lease with an oil company). In this regard, the court observed: “There has not been one iota of evidence presented by the Co-Trustees to justify their retention of these funds, whether in their capacity as co-trustees or in their individual capacities.

William J. Rommel established The William J. Rommel Revocable Trust via written instrument on October 8, 2003, with himself as the trustee. The 2003 Rommel trust was drafted by attorney Stephen Dake. On October 28, 2003, Rommel executed a Memorandum of Trust Instrument, indicating he had “conveyed all of his real property located in Kern County, and personal property[,] to the Trustee.” The memorandum was recorded in the official records of the County of Kern on November 4, 2003.
B. Rommel Received Oil, Gas, and Mineral Interests in 2007, and Entered into a Lease Based on Those Interests in 2011
On October 2, 2007, Rommel received, via a quitclaim deed from Lucille Barkley, an interest in “oil, gas and minerals or other hydrocarbons in and under” a specific parcel of real property located in Kern County (oil interests or oil and gas interests or mineral interests or oil rights).