CA Unpub Decisions

In case No. CM021894, defendant George Raymond Rowell, Jr., was arrested and charged in connection with a December 2004 home invasion robbery during which he threatened and sexually assaulted the victim at gunpoint. In August 2005, while on bail in case No. CM021894, defendant was arrested and charged in case No. CM023749 with robbery and evading a police officer. Arresting officers found weapons, stolen property and drug paraphernalia in defendants car. The judgment is affirmed.

Thomas T. Zingsheim, Robert J. Maxwell, and Michael J. Murphy, along with Tuesdae Ditmars and Evan Baltsas, were charged with various crimes stemming out of two residential burglaries. After Ditmars and Baltsas pled guilty, a bifurcated jury trial proceeded on a consolidated amended information as to Zingsheim, Maxwell and Murphy. The jury found the three defendants guilty of the following offenses committed at the residence of Ryan Guerrero on January 29, 2005: count 1, first degree robbery (Pen. Code,[1] 211, 212.5, subd. (a)); count 2, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, a handgun ( 245, subd. (b)); count 3, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, a rifle ( 245, subd. (b)); count 4, residential burglary ( 459, 460); count 5, false imprisonment by violence or menace ( 236, 237, subd. (a)); count 6, grand theft of personal property ( 487, subd. (a)); count 7, intimidating a witness by malicious use of force or violence ( 136.1, subd. (c)(1)); and counts 9, 10, 11 and 12, tampering with electric, telephone and cable television lines ( 591). Maxwell alone was found guilty of count 8 for tampering with an electrical line connected to an alarm system.

Defendant Henry William Lane was convicted in a court trial of battery with the use of a deadly weapon, by means likely to result in great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon by means likely to result in great bodily injury. The trial court sentenced him to seven years in state prison. Defendant appeals his conviction and his sentence. Court affirm.

In the criminal proceeding in this matter, the court ordered that a $50,000 bail bond be forfeited when the defendant, Maurice Stewart, failed to appear at his preliminary hearing. The insurer that issued the bond, Lincoln General Insurance Company (Lincoln) moved to set aside the forfeiture, arguing the court lost jurisdiction to declare a forfeiture when it did not order the bond forfeited when Stewart previously failed to appear at his trial readiness conference. The court denied the motion, finding the court had good cause to not declare the bond forfeited at the trial readiness conference.The order denying Lincoln's motion to set aside forfeiture of its $50,000 bail bond is reversed, and the trial court is directed to vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond.

Israel Rivera appeals a grant of summary judgment in favor of respondents, Chula Vista police officer David Wrege and the City of Chula Vista. Rivera contends : (1) summary judgment was improperly granted because his lawsuit was filed within the time allowed by section 945.6; and, in the alternative, the applicable statute of limitation was tolled for one year under section 3304, subdivision (d)(6); and, (2) Wrege's conduct exceeded the scope of his employment, and therefore Rivera's lawsuit was not time-barred. Court affirm.

At his preliminary hearing, and again prior to trial, defendant Larry Martinez moved to suppress evidence obtained by officers in connection with his arrest. The motions were denied. Martinez thereafter pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, and in a separate proceeding was found guilty by a jury of a second count of receiving stolen property. On appeal, Martinez asserts the evidence should have been suppressed because the initial detention was improper. The judgment is affirmed.

Defendant and appellant National Vacation Resorts: Kosher Classics, Inc. (Classics) appeals from a judgment in favor of Marriott Hotel Services, Inc. (Marriott) following a bench trial on Marriott's complaint for breach of contract. The trial court awarded Marriott $329,478.79 in actual damages, liquidated damages and prejudgment interest on implied findings that Classics had breached two written contracts with Marriott for events in which Classics agreed to occupy a certain number of rooms at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort. On appeal, Classics contends (1) the trial court erred by ignoring the plain language of one of the contracts and undisputed testimony of Classics' principal as to certain penalties; (2) Marriott unilaterally cancelled the other contract; and (3) Marriott presented no evidence of reasonable efforts to mitigate its damages. Court affirm the judgment.

The juvenile court found true beyond a reasonable doubt the allegations that 16-year-old Vanessa A. unlawfully drove a vehicle in violation of Vehicle Code section 10851, subdivision (a) (count 2) and, as the driver of a vehicle, was involved in an accident causing property damage and left the scene without leaving notice of the incident in violation of Vehicle Code section 20002, subdivision (a) (count 3). The court designated the true finding on count 2 as a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b), and dismissed count 1. Vanessa was committed to the Short Term Offender Program for a period not to exceed 90 days and, on completion of the commitment, placed with her mother. Vanessa timely filed a notice of appeal.
On appeal Vanessa contends the true finding on count 2 should be reversed. She argues (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the true finding on count 2 because there was no evidence she drove the vehicle without the consent or permission of the owner, and (2) the admission into evidence of a police officer's testimony that he obtained information the vehicle was a stolen vehicle violated her rights to confront and cross-examine witnesses. Vanessa does not challenge on appeal the true finding on count 3.
The judgment is affirmed.

Melvin Lee Ellis pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender (former Pen. Code, 290, subd. (g)(2)[1], now 290.018, subd. (b)) and admitted he had a prior serious/violent felony or strike conviction ( 667, subds. (b)-(i)). At sentencing, the trial court denied Ellis's Romero (People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497) motion to dismiss the strike allegation, and sentenced Ellis to 32 months in prison. The court selected the low term of 16 months for the failure to register count and doubled it under the Three Strikes Law.
The judgment is affirmed.

Billy J. Ford, Jr., entered a negotiated guilty plea to corporal injury to a cohabitant (Pen. Code,[1] 273.5, subd. (a)) and admitted he had a prior serious felony ( 667, subd. (a)) and a prior serious/violent felony or strike conviction ( 667, subds. (b)-(i)). Under the plea bargain, which set a "mid-lid" of 11 years, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the balance of the amended complaint. At the change of plea hearing, the trial court indicated it would consider striking the prior strike conviction.At the sentencing hearing, the court granted Ford's Romero (People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497) motion and dismissed the prior strike conviction. The court sentenced Ford to a seven-year prison termthe low term of two years for the corporal injury to a cohabitant count plus a five-year enhancement for the prior serious felony conviction.

A jury found defendant and appellant, Michael David Calzada (hereafter defendant), guilty as charged of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation in violation of Penal Code[1]sections 664/187, subdivision (a) (count 1); shooting from a motor vehicle in violation of section 12034, subdivision (c) (count 2); mayhem in violation of section 203 (count 3); and street terrorism, i.e., being an active participant in the Hillside Rivas, a criminal street gang, in violation of section 186.22, subdivision (a) (count 4). The jury also found true the special allegations in connection with counts 1 through 3 that defendant personally discharged a firearm and caused great bodily injury ( 12022.53, subd. (d) & 1192.7, subd. (c)(8)), was a principal in the commission of the crime ( 12022.53, subds. (d) & (e)(1)), and committed the crime for the benefit of or in association with a criminal street gang ( 186.22, subd. (b)). After denying defendants motion for a new trial, the trial court sentenced defendant to serve a term of 15 years to life on count 1, with a consecutive term on the firearm enhancement of 25 years to life, and an additional consecutive term of 10 years on the gang enhancement. The trial court stayed execution of the sentences imposed on the remaining counts. The judgment is affirmed.

On October 21, 2004, fellow Corona Vatos or Varrios Locos (CVL) gang members Johnny Ray Aguirre, Joey Alfredo Diaz, and Edward Juan Cuellar chased Centennial High School football player Dominic Redd into an apartment complex located in Corona. All three jumped on Redd and beat him. During the brawl, one of the three defendants pulled out a knife and stabbed Redd 13 times. Redd died as a result of the multiple knife wounds. The judgments are affirmed.

A modification decision.

Defendants were found guilty of attempted first degree ATM robbery (count 1; Pen. Code, 664/211 & 212.5, subd. (b))[1]and of assault as a lesser included offense of assault with a deadly weapon (count 2; 240/245, subd. (a)(1)). In a bifurcated proceeding, the court found that both defendants had a strike prior ( 667, subds. (b) (i)), a prior serious felony conviction ( 667, subd. (a)), and had served a prior prison term ( 667.5, subd. (b)). The court sentenced Duncantell to 10 years in state prison, and sentenced Moore to 10 years eight months, including a consecutive term for a probation violation in San Bernardino County case No. FSB047486.