P. v. Braman
Appellant, Robert Lee Braman, was charged with possessing methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)), and possessing a syringe (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 4140, a misdemeanor). It was also alleged that appellant suffered a prior strike (Pen. Code, § 667, subds. (b)-(i)), and a prior prison term (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)).
Pursuant to a plea agreement, appellant pled no contest to the possession of methamphetamine charge and admitted the prior strike. The misdemeanor and the prior prison were dismissed.
At sentencing, appellant’s motion to strike the strike was denied, as was probation. On the possession of methamphetamine conviction, appellant was sentenced to the low term of 1 year and 4 months, doubled for the strike, for a total of 32 months.
Appellant’s sole contention on appeal is that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to strike appellant’s prior “strike†conviction. The prior was a 1984 robbery conviction. In exercising its discretion, the court stated: “. . . I looked at this very closely but I just simply don’t see it in the interests of justice under [Penal Code] section 1385 to grant the Romero[1] motion. In particular in light of what we have over the last 10 years where we have a repeated sentence to state prison, and the motion under Romero is denied.â€
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