P. v. Garcia



Filed 4/26/11 P. v. Garcia CA2/2







NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS


California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.





IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JORGE CISNEROS GARCIA, Defendant and Appellant.

B225126 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. VA113712)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Philip H. Hickok, Judge. Affirmed.

Law Offices of David W. German and David W. German, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Stephanie A. Miyoshi and Ellen Birnbaum Kehr, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.



* * * * * *
Appellant Jorge Cisneros Garcia appeals from the judgment entered upon his conviction by jury of forgery (Pen. Code, § 475, subd. (b)).^[1] He was sentenced to three years in state prison (two-year midterm plus one year for his prior conviction). He contends that his forgery conviction must be reversed because there was insufficient evidence of his intent to defraud. We disagree and affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On January 10, 2010, Francisco Alvarez parked his pickup truck in front of his house, leaving his checkbook inside the truck. The next day his truck was missing. Alvarez called the police and filed a stolen vehicle report. That same day, Alvarez spotted his truck in the parking lot of a local motel. Deputies Nancy Zavala and Lucy Chavez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went to the motel. They checked the truck's license plate number to verify that it was stolen.
Deputy Zavala spoke with the motel manager, who informed her that the person he saw driving the truck was in room 26.^[2] Deputy Zavala knocked on the door of room 26 and appellant answered. Two other people were in the room--a transvestite whom Deputy Chavez knew from previous contact, and another man. All three people were detained.
Deputy Zavala searched appellant and recovered two checks from his pants pocket. One of the checks was made out for $200 and had â€