CA Unpub Decisions

Defendant Thomas Ray Roland was sentenced to prison for a term of 25 years to life after pleading guilty to evading the process of the court and admitting he had suffered three prior serious felonies that qualified as strikes. He appeals arguing that the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to strike two of his prior strike convictions and when it refused to reduce his crime to a misdemeanor, his sentence is cruel and/or unusual punishment, and his trial counsel was ineffective.

After kidnapping a young mother and her infant child from the parking lot of a Bakersfield shopping center, Anthony Ray Graham, Jr., forced the mother to drive him to an ATM, where she withdrew money for him, and to a junior high school parking lot, where he sexually assaulted her.[1] A jury found him guilty, inter alia, of four felonies against the mother and one against the child. The court sentenced him to an aggregate indeterminate term of 50 years to life plus a five-year enhancement consecutive to a determinate term of 21 years. On appeal, he raises multiple challenges to the judgment of conviction. We affirm.

Defendant Isacc Christian Serrano started a fistfight with an employee of the restaurant where his wife worked, possibly because he thought the employee was involved in a romantic relationship with his wife. After a second employee tried to break up the fight, defendant stabbed the second employee.
Defendant was found guilty of attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 664), with enhancements for personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b)(1)) and for personally inflicting great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 12022.7). However, an allegation that the attempted murder was willful, deliberate, and premeditated (Pen. Code, § 664, subd. (a)) was found not true. Defendant admitted one prior serious felony conviction enhancement (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (a)) and one â€

Dale Carol Sims entered a negotiated plea of no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a)). Pursuant to a stipulation between the parties, the court placed Sims on three years' probation. Sims appeals. We affirm.

This appeal is taken from a judgment and an order of the superior court denying Felipe Mauleon's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to one count each of assault with a deadly weapon and by means likely to produce great bodily injury, evading an officer with reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and proceeds in accordance with People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). Finding no reasonably arguable appellate issue, we affirm the judgment and order.

Accredited Surety and Casualty Company, Inc. (Accredited), appeals the denial of a motion to vacate the forfeiture of a bail bond, on which judgment was entered. Specifically, Accredited relies on Penal Code[1] section 1305, subdivision (f) to contend (1) the trial court erred in failing to consider the principle of "futility" when it denied its motion and (2) the principle against forfeiture of a bail bond required the trial court to grant its motion.
As we explain, we affirm the judgment because the record on appeal is wholly inadequate, inasmuch as it does not include the order appealed from, among other deficiencies, and, in any event because the trial court properly exercised its discretion in denying Accredited's motion and entering judgment against Accredited.

Appellant Kethen Barnes appeals from the denial of his motion under Penal Code section 1538.5 after his plea of â€

After a jury found appellant Meyer Bruce Hydle guilty of 13 sex offenses involving his children, the trial court sentenced him to a total determinate term of 24 years and a total indeterminate term of 150 years to life. On appeal, appellant challenges only his sentence. We conclude the trial court erred in imposing the determinate term. Accordingly, we modify the judgment to reflect a total determinate term of 12 years, and affirm the judgment so modified.

Appellant Mario Meza appeals from his August 6, 2010 conviction by jury of one count of transporting (count 1) and two counts of selling, furnishing, or giving away (counts 2, 3) a controlled substance in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11352, subdivision (a); and one count of possession for sale of a controlled substance in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11351 (count 4). Appellant admitted having suffered a 1982 conviction for a serious or violent felony. (Pen. Code, § 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d); 667, subds. (b)-(i).) After denying appellant's Romero[1] motion, the trial court sentenced him to 15 years and four months in prison. The sentence consisted of the upper term of five years in count 1, doubled to 10 years because of appellant's strike; and consecutive terms of one-third the midterm (one year, four months), doubled to two years and eight months due to the strike. In count 4, the trial court imposed the upper term of four years and stayed the sentence under Penal Code section 654. The trial court awarded appellant 92 days of custody credits consisting of 62 days actual time and 30 days conduct credit.

Appellant Kasey Wilson appeals from his conviction by jury of second degree robbery in violation of Penal Code section 211.[1] The jury found appellant personally used a handgun as alleged under section 12022.53, subdivision (b). The trial court sentenced appellant to the midterm of three years for the robbery and 10 years for the gun allegation. The trial court awarded appellant 304 days of credits consisting of 265 actual days and 39 conduct credits (15 percent).

Appellant Marvin Corbin was convicted, following a jury trial, of one count of murder in violation of Penal Code[1] section 187, subdivision (a), and one count of grand theft auto in violation of section 487, subdivision (d)(1). The jury found true the allegation that a principal was armed in the commission of the offenses within the meaning of section 12022, subdivision (a)(1). The jury found not true the allegation that appellant personally used a firearm within the meaning of section 12022.53. The trial court sentenced appellant to 25 years to life for the murder conviction, plus a consecutive 1 year enhancement term for the principal arming allegation. The court also sentenced appellant to the upper term of three years for the grand theft auto conviction.

Appellants Branko and Magdalena Gardilcic seek to recover title to their home, which was auctioned at a nonjudicial foreclosure sale after they defaulted on their loan. None of appellants' 13 causes of action succeed. Appellants did not cure the default before the sale, they did not allege an actionable promise to postpone the sale, and title to the property was delivered to a bona fide purchaser, so it cannot be disturbed under the state statutory scheme. We affirm the trial court's judgment in favor of the lender, the trustee for the deed of trust, and the purchasers of the property.

On the night of December 4, 2009, Los Angeles Police Officer Tyler Fox was driving a marked patrol car in downtown Los Angeles. He noticed defendant Rudolfo Sanchez talking with another man, who was reaching for a plastic baggie in defendant's hand. Both men saw Fox and became startled. Defendant backed up and dropped the plastic baggie into a planter; his companion quickly walked away. Fox got out of his patrol car and approached defendant who ran a few steps before Fox detained him. Fox reached into the planter and recovered a plastic baggie containing 30 rocks of crack cocaine weighing approximately 4.16 grams. Fox also found on defendant $150 cash in small denominations. Defendant volunteered he could not get a job and was just trying to make some money.
Defendant was thereafter arrested and charged by information with possession for sale of cocaine base (Health & Saf. Code, § 11351.5), with special allegations he had suffered a prior serious or violent felony conviction within the meaning of the â€

Defendant, Howard Huh, was convicted by a jury of second degree murder. (Pen. Code,[1] § 187, subd. (a).) The jury found defendant personally and intentionally discharged a firearm proximately causing Alex Huh's death. (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (c) & (d).) Defendant was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison. Defendant contends the trial court improperly denied his new trial motion and abused its discretion in denying his post-trial motion for juror identification information. Defendant further asserts there was insufficient evidence he committed second degree murder. We reject the contentions, modify the judgment in part and affirm as modified.