CA Unpub Decisions

Alshonda Jatrice Jordan appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial in which she was convicted in count 1 of second degree commercial burglary (Pen. Code, 459) and in count 2 of grand theft of personal property (Pen. Code, 487, subd. (a)). She was sentenced to prison for the low term of 16 months for count 1 and the sentence for count 2 was ordered stayed pursuant to Penal Code section 654.

T.H. appeals from an order of wardship (Welf. & Inst. Code, 602) following a finding that she committed grand theft (Pen. Code, 487, subd. (c)), second degree robbery (Pen. Code, 211), and battery (Pen. Code, 242). She was ordered suitably placed in an open facility and contends the record does not support the juvenile courts finding that she committed a robbery. For reasons stated in the opinion, Court conclude the finding she committed a second degree robbery is supported by substantial evidence and affirm the order of wardship.

Real party Mission Fiber Group, Inc. (Mission) filed a breach of contract/bad faith action against its commercial insurance carrier, Hartford Casualty Insurance Company (Hartford). Hartford filed a cross-complaint. The superior court granted the motion of Mission and its principals to stay the entire civil action pending resolution of an administrative proceeding filed against Mission by the California Department of Conservation (DOC).
Upon Hartfords petition, we issued an order pursuant to Palma v. U.S. Industrial Fasteners, Inc. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 171, 180, directing the superior court to set the motion for a new hearing, and consider the motion under the criteria set forth in Haskel, Inc. v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 963, 980, and Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Superior Court (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 902, 908 909 (Montrose II). The court declined to set the matter for a new hearing. Accordingly, Court direct the issuance of a peremptory writ of mandate.

Defendant James Bates was convicted of two counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of forcible rape, and one count of sexual battery by restraint. He was sentenced to an aggregate term of 100 years to life in state prison.
On appeal, defendant claims there is insufficient evidence of territorial jurisdiction to support the jurys finding that the forcible oral copulation offenses were committed in San Joaquin County. Court shall affirm the judgment.

At age seven, plaintiff Ruben Lopez suffered permanent brain damage in a rear-end freeway accident. Lopez filed suit against several car manufacturers that produced the car Lopez rode in at the time of the accident. Lopez settled his suit for $2 million. Between the accident and the subsequent settlement, defendant California Department of Health Care Services (Department) paid for Lopezs medical expenses in the amount of $547,680.08. Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 14124.76, the trial court reduced the Departments lien for medical expenses paid to $63,216.69. The Department appeals, arguing the court improperly placed the burden on it to establish the portion of the settlement that was allocated to medical expenses and erred in reducing the Departments lien. Court shall affirm the judgment.

Defendant Teddy Lee Crawford stole more than $3,000 from Molly Lumpkins. When Molly and her friends went to defendants apartment to seek the return of the money, defendant assaulted them with a firearm. Convicted of grand theft, assault with a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a felon, and sentenced to state prison, defendant appeals.

A jury convicted defendant Carla Jean Klein on count one of violating Health and Safety Code section 11377, subdivision (a), possession of a controlled substance (methylphenidate), and on counts two and three of violating Health and Safety Code section 11364, possession of narcotic paraphernalia. In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found true the allegations pursuant to Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b), that defendant had served two prior prison terms following felony convictions in 1999 and 2006.
The trial court sentenced defendant to the middle term of two years for count one plus one year for each of the prior conviction enhancements. The trial court stayed the prison term and placed defendant on probation for a period of five years. Defendant argues the trial court erred in admitting evidence of her two prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance, and erred in imposing, then suspending the execution of her sentence. Court shall not reverse the conviction because Court conclude any error was harmless. However, the trial court should have suspended imposition of defendants sentence, and Court shall direct it to do so.

Defendants probation was revoked when he left a two year treatment program approximately two months after entering the program. Defendant argues the evidence that he left the program was insufficient to show a willful violation of probation. Court disagree and shall affirm the order revoking defendants probation.

In separate incidents while working as a driving instructor, 22-year-old defendant Miles Edgar Stark initiated explicit sexual conversations which made a student feel uncomfortable. On two such occasions, the driving student was a 16-year-old girl. The student in the other incident was a 15-year-old girl. Neither girl told defendant that the conversations made them feel uncomfortable. The 16-year-old student answered his sexual questions without protest; the other simply changed the subject. However, both complained to others about feeling uncomfortable and offended. The 16-year-old girl then hid a tape recorder in her purse during a driving lesson and used it to record defendants sexual comments. At the end of the lesson, she held up the recorder so that he could see it. Defendant immediately went to the owners of the driving school and reported that he had engaged in inappropriate sexual conversation with the student.

Defendant Steve Thomas Starr pleaded guilty to arson of an inhabited structure (Pen. Code,[1] 451, subd. (b)), pleaded no contest to assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury ( 245, subd. (a)(1)), and admitted that he used an accelerant in the commission of a felony ( 451.1, subd. (a)(5)). In exchange, four related counts were dismissed. He was sentenced to state prison for 14 years, consisting of the upper term of eight years for arson, the upper term of five years for the enhancement, and one year for the assault.[2] Defendant was awarded 172 days actual custody credit and 25 days conduct credit, for a total of 197 days credit, ordered to make restitution to his victims, and ordered to
pay a $2,000 restitution fine ( 1202.4), a $2,000 restitution fine suspended unless parole is revoked ( 1202.45), a $750 fine including penalty assessments, and a $20 court security fee ( 1465.8, subd. (a)(1)). Defendant did not request
or obtain a certificate of probable cause.

On November 14, 2006, Calvin Luckett and James Robinson, armed with guns, approached the victims to rob them of their property. Luckett pointed his weapon at Saxton Rogers and took his watch, money, and a small amount of marijuana. Meanwhile, Robinson pistol whipped Joseph Castillo and escorted him into his home where Castillo obtained his own gun from a closet shelf and fatally shot Robinson.

This appeal from a judgment of dismissal of a personal injury action involves the application of the equitable tolling doctrine in the context of governmental tort claims against a public entity. Plaintiff and appellant Terri Ackerman (Plaintiff) was injured in 2005 when she slipped and fell at the premises of the school where she taught, which was owned and operated by defendant and respondent Poway Unified School District (the District). From 2005 to the present, she has obtained workers' compensation benefits and treatment for her injuries, including three surgeries since the accident. In 2006, she filed a timely governmental tort claim against the District. (Gov. Code, 900 et seq. (Government Claims Act, hereinafter, the Act).) In 2007, she sued the general contractor which had built the school, on theories of premises liability and negligence. For the reasons to be explained, Court affirm the order and judgment of dismissal.

Candice B. Kowalczyk entered a negotiated guilty plea to corporal injury to a cohabitant (Pen. Code, 273.5, subd. (a)) and admitted she had a prior serious/violent felony or strike conviction (Pen. Code, 667, subds. (b)-(i)). In exchange, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the remaining chargestwo counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of making a criminal threat and one count of dissuading a witness by force or threat. The prosecution also agreed Kowalczyk's current corporal injury to a cohabitant conviction would not be considered a strike conviction. The parties stipulated to a prison term of four years. The court sentenced Kowalczyk to four years in prisonthe low term of two years doubled under the Three Strikes law.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant Juan Carlos Felix pled guilty to transporting cocaine (Health & Saf. Code, 11352) and possessing cocaine for the purpose of sale (Health & Saf. Code, 11351). In return, he was placed on probation on various terms and conditions, including serving 90 days in county jail. On appeal, he contends (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and (2) he was denied effective assistance of counsel at the time he entered his guilty plea. Court reject these contentions and affirm the judgment.