CA Unpub Decisions

This opinion issues following remand from the Supreme Court directing us to vacate our original opinion and to reconsider the appeal in light of Senate Bill No. 620.
A jury found defendant Marvin Ray Markle, Jr., guilty of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187; statutory section references that follow are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated) and sustained an enhancement for personally using a firearm causing great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). Defendant admitted a strike and a prior serious felony conviction (§§ 667, subds. (a)(1), (d), 1170.12) and the trial court sentenced him to 75 years to life plus five years in state prison.
On appeal, defendant contends trial counsel was ineffective in failing to present evidence of third party culpability that counsel promised to present in the opening statement.

Plaintiff California Association of Professional Scientists (Scientists) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with defendant Department of Human Resources (State). Subsequently, the parties arbitrated whether a contract protection clause survived the expiration of the MOU. The arbitrator found in favor of Scientists, who petitioned the trial court to confirm the arbitration award. State cross-petitioned to vacate the award. The trial court denied Scientists’ petition and granted State’s cross-petition. Scientists appeals, arguing State waived the issue and the trial court erred in vacating the award. We shall affirm the judgment.

A jury convicted defendant Larry Lee Halverson of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and leaving the scene of an accident. (Pen. Code, § 191.5, subds. (a) & (d); Veh. Code, § 20001, subds. (b)(1) & (c).) In connection with the vehicular manslaughter conviction, the jury found that defendant committed the following violations: driving on a suspended/revoked license, and driving in violation of license restrictions.

N.B. (mother) appeals from the juvenile court’s jurisdictional order regarding D.P. (minor) based on Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivisions (b) and (d). She asks us to exercise our discretion to review the sufficiency of the evidence for certain subdivision (d) findings. According to mother, there was insufficient evidence that she knew minor was being sexually abused or was at risk of sexual abuse. Also, she claims there was insufficient evidence that she failed to protect him from sexual abuse.
We find no error and affirm.

Abel Sosa was granted three years probation following his conviction for robbery. He filed a timely notice of appeal. His court-appointed appellate counsel notified this court pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 that he was unable to find any arguable issues to assert on appeal. We affirm the judgment.

Defendant and appellant Kendon Ray Parks was convicted by jury of three gun-related charges, including one count of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. The sole issue on appeal is whether there was substantial evidence defendant was “carrying” a loaded firearm in a vehicle within the meaning of Penal Code section 25850.
The record reflects that defendant was in the front passenger seat of a vehicle being pursued by law enforcement officers. After a high-speed pursuit, the car eventually stopped, and defendant was apprehended shortly after fleeing the car. A loaded AR-15 assault weapon was found in the front passenger compartment of the car. We conclude there is substantial evidence defendant was carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and therefore affirm.

Felix Brown III (Brown) appeals the denial of his petition for recall and resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.126. He contends the trial erred when it found he posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.
We find no error and affirm.

Petersen-Dean appeals from the denial of its petition to compel arbitration in its dispute with James Cirile. We affirm.

Wajuba Zymaal McDuffy was 17 years old at the time he shot and killed Mr. Dixie Gibson during an attempted robbery. In 1998, a jury convicted him of first degree murder and found true a personal firearm use enhancement. The trial court sentenced him to a prison term of life plus 10 years without the possibility of parole (LWOP). We affirmed the conviction on appeal.

On October 8, 1995, the now-defunct British tabloid, News of the World, published an article accusing plaintiff John Bryan of criminal conduct. Bryan, who gained notoriety in the early 1990’s because of his relationship with Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, did not file suit. Nineteen years later, on November 12, 2014, the BBC current affairs television program Panorama aired an exposé of some of the deceitful and illegal tactics used by News of the World reporters, especially defendant Mazher Mahmood. Bryan’s story was included as an example of News of the World’s unscrupulous tactics. During Bryan’s segment on the show, the headline from the 1995 article appeared on screen.

This malicious prosecution action arises from a collection action brought against Lawrence Pasternack by Thomas McCullough, Jr. and his law firm (collectively, McCullough) on behalf of Easton Builders Corporation (Easton). After Pasternack prevailed in the collection action and settled with Easton on other claims, he sued McCullough for malicious prosecution. McCullough appeals from a denial of his special motion to strike the malicious prosecution complaint under the anti-SLAPP statute. (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16.) Among other things, McCullough contends Pasternack cannot demonstrate a probability of prevailing because the trial court in the underlying collection action denied Pasternack’s motion for nonsuit; the denial established as a matter of law that McCullough and his client’s collection claim was legally tenable under the interim adverse judgment rule. We reverse the order denying the anti-SLAPP motion.

Plaintiff and appellant Zacadia Financial Limited Partnership (Zacadia) challenges a judgment entered in favor of defendant and respondent Fiduciary Trust International of California (Fiduciary Trust) following trial court orders sustaining Fiduciary Trust’s demurrer to causes of action set forth in Zacadia’s first amended complaint (FAC) and second amended complaint (SAC) without leave to amend.
We affirm.

Yona Wipranik was awarded a judgment against Hertzel Ben Marome in the amount of $397,262.32. Marome appeals. Because Marome has presented an inadequate record, we are unable to assess his claims of error and therefore affirm the judgment.

Defendant Latroy Denard Clinton Sr. appeals from the sentence imposed on remand (see People v. Clinton (June 10, 2016, A140056) [nonpub. opn.] ) for convictions following a jury trial of voluntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (a)–count 1), felon in possession of a firearm (former § 12021, subd. (a)(1)–count 2), and felony evasion of a police officer. The jury also found, as to the manslaughter charge, that defendant personally used a firearm (§ 12022.5). Additionally, defendant was found to have served prison terms for three prior felony convictions and to have suffered two prior “strike” convictions.