CA Unpub Decisions

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Idan Ivri, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Minor, Jason G. (minor), appeals from a judgment of the juvenile court, ordering camp-community placement after sustaining a petition filed pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 (petition or section 602 petition).[1] We reject minor's sole contention that the adjudication was not supported by substantial evidence, and we affirm the judgment.

Defendant appeals his conviction for one count of continuous sexual abuse of a person under age 14 (Pen. Code, § 288.5), three counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a person under age 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)), and three counts of forcible rape (Pen. Code, § 261, subd. (a)(2)),[1] with true findings that the victim was under the age of 28 at the time the information was filed, and was under the age of 18 when defendant committed the crimes. Defendant contends the trial court erred in failing to instruct on the lesser included offense of attempted rape; the victim's pretext telephone call to him violated his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent; and the imposition of a criminal conviction assessment under Government Code section 70373 violated the ex post facto clause of the federal constitution. We conclude that the trial court erred in failing to instruct on the lesser included offense of attempted rape, but that based on defendant's admission, the jury would have necessarily convicted him of attempted rape. We modify defendant's sentence accordingly and affirm the judgment as modified.

Defendant appeals his conviction for one count of continuous sexual abuse of a person under age 14 (Pen. Code, § 288.5), three counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a person under age 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)), and three counts of forcible rape (Pen. Code, § 261, subd. (a)(2)),[1] with true findings that the victim was under the age of 28 at the time the information was filed, and was under the age of 18 when defendant committed the crimes. Defendant contends the trial court erred in failing to instruct on the lesser included offense of attempted rape; the victim's pretext telephone call to him violated his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent; and the imposition of a criminal conviction assessment under Government Code section 70373 violated the ex post facto clause of the federal constitution. We conclude that the trial court erred in failing to instruct on the lesser included offense of attempted rape, but that based on defendant's admission, the jury would have necessarily convicted him of attempted rape. We modify defendant's sentence accordingly and affirm the judgment as modified.

Plaintiff John La Grou filed a putative class action lawsuit against defendant Ford Motor Company. The trial court dismissed several claims by way of a motion for judgment on the pleadings and granted summary adjudication of the remaining claims. In La Grou's appeal from the judgment, he argues that several causes of action should be reinstated. Finding no error, we affirm.

Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc. (appellant) appeals from an order denying its motion to vacate forfeiture, reinstate bond, and exonerate bond pursuant to Penal Code section 1305, subdivisions (c)(3) and (f).[1] Appellant argues that it is entitled to exoneration of the bond as a matter of equity, due to a miscommunication between the clerk of the court and the bail agent. We find that, on the record before us, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellant's motion to set aside the forfeiture. Therefore we affirm.

Appellant Antelmo Cruz Perez was charged with one count of murder in violation of Penal Code section 187, subdivision (a)[1] and with personal use of a knife within the meaning of section 12022, subdivision (b)(1). At trial, the jury found appellant guilty of first degree murder and personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon. The court sentenced appellant to 26 years to life imprisonment. Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support a verdict of first degree murder. He also contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress a custodial interrogation because he did not waive his Fifth Amendment right to counsel. We find no error and affirm.

Defendant and appellant DeJohn N. Smith appeals from a judgment entered following his conviction for second degree robbery, with a firearm use finding. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 12022.53, subd. (b).) (Further unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.) Sentenced to 14 years in state prison, Smith claims there was trial error and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. We affirm.

Plaintiff and appellant Robin Rodriguez (plaintiff), as Executor for the Estate of Rami Rodriguez (Rodriguez), appeals from the judgment entered in favor of defendants and respondents Lynard C. Hinojosa and Lisa Fisher (Hinojosa, Fisher, or defendants) after the trial court granted defendants' respective special motions to strike (anti-SLAPP motions), pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16) to plaintiff's first amended complaint. We affirm the judgment.

Fraydun Ahmad Kordian (defendant) appeals from a final judgment following his conviction by jury of two counts of murder (Pen. Code, § 187),[1] two counts of attempted murder (§§ 664 & 187, subd. (a)), and related charges, which are set forth at length below. We affirm the judgment.

S.R. (Minor) appeals after the juvenile court found he had committed assault and vandalism. He contends the finding that he committed misdemeanor assault is inconsistent with the juvenile court's other factual findings. We affirm.

This appeal has been taken by Stacey W. and Paul M., the parents of the minor Logan, from a judgment pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 that terminated their parental rights and ordered adoption as the permanent plan.[1] They claim that the juvenile court erred by failing to find that the beneficial parent-child relationship exception to adoption preference (§ 366.26, subd. (c)(1)(B)(i)) is applicable. We conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion by terminating parental rights and ordering adoption as a permanent plan for the minor, and affirm the judgment.

S.H. (Minor) appeals an order denying his motion to set aside a placement order and transfer his case to Arizona under the Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ). (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1400 et seq.) We shall affirm the challenged order.

A modification decision.

A security guard at the Vallco shopping mall in Cupertino escorted a group of teenagers out of the mall because he recognized one of them, R.R., as having been previously banned from the mall. Once outside, a melee erupted, eventually involving four current or former mall security guards and five male juveniles, including 16-year-old R.R. and his 15-year-old brother K.R., the minor in this case. After a contested jurisdictional hearing, the juvenile court sustained felony charges against both the minor and R.R.[1] for assaulting security guard Stas Plotnikov (count 1), security guard Shawn Johnson (count 2), security guard Jason Robinson (count 3), and former security guard Paul Le (count 4). (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1).)[2] The court impliedly found that counts 1 and 3 involved the use of deadly weapons (a rock and a walkie-talkie, respectively). The court further found that the minor personally inflicted great bodily injury on Plotnikov. (§ 12022.7, subd. (a).)[3]
On appeal the minor contends that the court's express findings about the cause of Plotnikov's injuries undermine the conclusion that he personally inflicted great bodily injury. He also contends that the use of deadly weapons was not a natural and probable consequence of hand to hand combat, precluding his liability on an aiding and abetting theory. For the reasons stated below, we will strike the personal infliction finding and affirm the jurisdictional order as so modified.