CA Unpub Decisions

A complaint charged defendant Trina Worthy Kuykendall with being a felon in possession of a firearm (count I), receiving stolen property worth over $950 (count II), being a felon in possession of ammunition (count III), and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place (count IV).
Defendant pled guilty to count I, with the remaining counts dismissed, in return for a stipulated two-year state prison sentence. The parties stipulated that the factual basis for the plea was found in the Tehama County Sheriff’s Department crime report.

A complaint charged defendant Trina Worthy Kuykendall with being a felon in possession of a firearm (count I), receiving stolen property worth over $950 (count II), being a felon in possession of ammunition (count III), and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place (count IV).
Defendant pled guilty to count I, with the remaining counts dismissed, in return for a stipulated two-year state prison sentence. The parties stipulated that the factual basis for the plea was found in the Tehama County Sheriff’s Department crime report.

Appointed counsel for defendant Tavares Montez Watkins has asked this court to review the record to determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) Finding no arguable error that would result in a disposition more favorable to defendant, we affirm the judgment. We will, however, remand the case for the trial court to exercise its discretion whether to lessen defendant’s sentence pursuant to People v. Gutierrez (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1894, 1896 (Gutierrez).

Appointed counsel for defendant David Vaughn Smith filed an opening brief that sets forth the facts of the case and asks this court 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 have found no arguable error that would result in a disposition more favorable to defendant. However, we have found sentencing errors and clerical errors that must be corrected. We will modify the judgment to correct the sentencing errors and direct the trial court to prepare a corrected abstract of judgment and to correct its internal records. As modified, the judgment is affirmed.

In early July 2015, defendant purchased a car stereo from West Coast Car Audio. West Coast Car Audio also installed the stereo for her. About a week later, defendant returned to the shop, in the installation area. She was angry, and claimed her audio system was “all F’d up.” Naeem Asghar, the sales manager, checked the system and it appeared to be working. Defendant said someone else had checked it and told her the system was not correctly installed. She demanded her money back and threatened to sue the store. Asghar explained the store did not give refunds, but would replace any defective equipment. He repeatedly offered to fix the problem.

Defendant Alphonso Clark appeals from trial court orders extending his commitment to a state hospital on two petitions: one running from January 14, 2015, to January 14, 2017, and the other running from January 14, 2017, to January 14, 2019. (Pen. Code, § 1026.5.) Defendant now contends he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to a jury trial on the commitment petitions because he was not advised of the consequences of admitting the petitions. We will affirm the trial court orders.

Officers detained defendant Lynn Arlen Hamilton while they executed a valid search warrant on his brother’s truck, looking for firearms and ammunition which his brother was statutorily prohibited from possessing. Although defendant was not the subject of the search warrant, officers knew at that time that he too had a prior conviction that prevented him from possessing firearms and ammunition. While detained, defendant made several incriminating statements about ammunition found in the truck and firearms and ammunition found at a residential property that was also subject to the warrant. He moved to suppress his inculpatory statements prior to trial. The trial court found defendant had been unlawfully arrested when seized, but denied the motion to suppress after concluding he would have inevitably made the statements notwithstanding the purported Fourth Amendment violation.

Defendant Benjamin Buster Brown appeals after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder, burglary, dissuading a witness, making criminal threats, assault, and vandalism. He contends the trial court erroneously excluded evidence supporting his heat of passion defense and improperly instructed the jury on voluntary intoxication and a defendant’s right to not testify. Defendant further contends the court committed multiple sentencing errors. Acknowledging his trial counsel failed to object to many of these claims of error, defendant also contends his counsel was ineffective. Finding no merit in defendant’s arguments, we affirm.

Bryce Karsten Tubb appeals an order of the Superior Court denying his petition to seal and destroy arrest records. (Pen. Code, § 851.8.)
We appointed counsel to represent Tubb on this appeal. After examination of the record, his counsel filed an opening brief requesting the court to make an independent review under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.

Travis W. (father) is the biological father of Z.W., born in December 2009. Z.W. lived with his mother (mother) in Los Angeles County, and father lived in Arizona. Z.W. and his half-brother, J.D., were detained by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) after a violent altercation involving mother and J.D.’s father. As part of the case plan, the juvenile court ordered father to complete drug tests, parenting classes, and individual counseling.
Father asserts that the court lacked authority to order him to complete services because he was a non-offending parent. We agree with father that the court’s order with respect to drug testing was an abuse of the court’s discretion, and therefore reverse that portion of the order. We otherwise affirm.

Elisa M. (mother) appeals orders of the juvenile court (1) denying her petition to reinstate her family reunification services, and (2) terminating parental rights to Aiden M. We find no abuse of discretion, and thus we affirm.

Michael Jay Smart appeals from a parole revocation order, contending the evidence was insufficient to support a finding he had violated the conditions of his parole. We affirm.

On September 30, 1997, Matthew Louis Johnson (appellant) was convicted of four counts of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211), one count of attempted robbery (§§ 664, 211), and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon (former § 12021, subd. (a)(1)). He was later sentenced to 78 years to life in state prison. In May 2017, appellant filed a motion for modification of sentence that the trial court treated as a petition for recall and resentencing pursuant to Proposition 47. The trial court denied the petition on the ground that the “specified offense[s] is/are ineligible.”

Daveon Travon Toutar appeals from a judgment which sentenced him to state prison after he was found in violation of the terms of his probation. Toutar’s appointed counsel on appeal filed an opening brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). We affirm.