CA Unpub Decisions

Defendant Darryl Anthony Thomas purports to appeal from an order denying his postjudgment motion to modify his sentence by converting the $300 restitution fine to a term of imprisonment at the rate of $30 per day, to be served concurrent with the term of imprisonment imposed for the conviction for which the restitution fine was imposed.

In this Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 proceeding, following entry of a negotiated plea, minor K.S. challenges the juvenile court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 700.1.) We affirm the judgment.

A jury found defendant Kenneth Chandler Anderson guilty of five counts of forcible sexual penetration (Pen. Code, § 289, subd. (a)(1)) with great bodily injury and tying or binding the victim allegations (§ 667.61, subds. (d)(6), (e)(5)) and one count of dissuading a witness (§ 136.1, subd. (b)(1)). The trial court sentenced defendant to a state prison term of 125 years to life plus three years.

Plaintiff Rich Churches sued defendants Edward Oneto, Rux Oneto, and Oneto Group, Inc., alleging various claims hinging on his theory that a partnership had been formed, and defendants deprived him of the benefits therefrom. By stipulation, the trial court bifurcated two equitable theories and conducted a court trial, resulting in a detailed statement of decision finding no partnership had ever been created. The trial court reasoned that that conclusion undermined the remaining legal claims, and entered a judgment for defendants, from which plaintiff timely filed this appeal.

After appellant Ray Stevens presented a late government claim to respondent City of Elk Grove (the City) for personal injuries allegedly sustained from excessive police force used while arresting him for petty theft, the City returned the claim without action as untimely and denied a subsequent application for leave to file a late claim. Stevens then missed the deadline to file a petition in the superior court under Government Code section 946.6 to relieve him of the government claim presentation requirement under section 945.4. The trial court denied the petition as untimely, and also found that Stevens failed to establish his late government claim was the result of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.

Appellant Gorden Graham (Graham) appeals from denial of his request for a writ of mandate requiring Respondent County of Sutter (Sutter County) to provide him a post-termination arbitration proceeding after he failed to comply with the deadline for requesting arbitrators to advance that proceeding. The trial court denied Graham’s request finding he had no beneficial interest in the arbitration proceeding and had been afforded the opportunity to have that proceeding. It further found Sutter County did not abuse its discretion in denying him relief from his noncompliance with the deadline to move forward with the arbitration proceeding. Finally, it found his claims were barred by laches because of the unreasonable and unexplained delay in instituting the writ proceeding that prejudiced Sutter County, the county having hired a replacement for his job by the time the writ was filed.

A jury found defendant Chester Leon Harris, Jr., guilty on two counts of committing a lewd act on a 14-year-old child (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (c)(1); counts 4 & 5) and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (§ 261.5, subd. (d); counts 7 & 8), his stepdaughter. Nearly two months after the trial, Eric Alan Berg of Eric Alan Berg & Associates, Inc., filed a motion seeking a court appointment at the county’s expense at his “customary hourly billing rate” to represent defendant post-conviction, claiming that defendant did not have funds to retain him. Berg had initially represented defendant in the case, prior to the appointment of the public defender. After the post-trial motion for court appointment was denied, defendant substituted in Berg as retained counsel in place of the public defender.

Defendant Hector Zazueta Gonzalez contends the offense of assault with the intent to commit sodomy is a lesser included offense of sodomy of an intoxicated person, and of sodomy of an unconscious person. Under either the elements test or the accusatory pleading test, we conclude it is not a lesser included offense. Assault with the intent to commit sodomy is a specific intent crime that is not necessarily committed when the general intent crimes of sodomy are committed. Therefore, defendant could properly be convicted of all three crimes. We affirm.

A.K. (Father) appeals the dependency court’s jurisdictional findings and dispositional orders sustaining a Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 petition and removing his children, Amelia S. (born December 2010) and R.S. (born July 2015) (collectively, the Children), from his physical custody. We determine that substantial evidence supports the February 23, 2017 orders; accordingly, we affirm.

Eureka Village Homeowners Association (EVHA) appeals from the trial court’s denial of its petition for writ of mandate to set aside the approval by the City of Rancho Cordova and the City Council of Rancho Cordova (sometimes collectively, the City) of a freeway interchange and arterial roadway (the Project). EVHA contends the City violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Res. Code, § 21000 et seq.) when it certified the environmental impact report (EIR) for the Project because (1) the EIR does not contain a reasonable range of alternatives, and (2) the EIR fails to adequately analyze and disclose the impacts of the Project with respect to air quality and noise. We shall affirm the judgment.

A jury found defendant Javier Jimenez guilty of two counts of child abuse. On appeal, he contends prosecutorial misconduct undermined his right to a fair trial. He argues the prosecutor committed misconduct by showing unauthenticated images of child pornography during her opening statements, by failing to turn over exculpatory evidence, and by misrepresenting her knowledge of that evidence. We conclude the prosecutor’s conduct did not prejudice defendant and therefore affirm.

Appellant C.B., father of the minor, appeals from the juvenile court’s orders terminating parental rights and freeing the minor for adoption. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395.) Appellant argues that the orders must be reversed and remanded because the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (Department) did not comply with the notice requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901, et seq.). The Department conceded the ICWA error and need for conditional reversal. We agree.

This case involves a payment dispute between Zoological Society of San Diego (the San Diego Zoo or the Zoo) and one of its general contractors, Diamond One Construction, Inc. (Diamond One) relating to the construction of a 4-D theater attraction on the Zoo's grounds, the Rio Rainforest Adventure (Rio). A jury awarded Diamond One approximately $223,000 and $371,000 in economic and punitive damages, respectively. The jury rejected the Zoo's defenses and cross-claims, which were premised on an assertion that Diamond One contracted to construct Rio for an amount not-to-exceed $500,000.

Ralphs Grocery Company (Ralphs), Ralphs Grocery Company dba Food-4-Less (Food-4-Less), and Ralphs Grocery Company dba Foods Co. (Ralphs, Food-4-Less, and Foods Co. collectively Appellants) appeal an order striking their complaint against Victory Consultants, Inc. (Victory) and Jerry Mailhot (Victory and Mailhot together Respondents) under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (the anti-SLAPP law). Appellants contend the superior court erred in determining that their complaint, which alleges a cause of action for trespass, arose out of activity protected by the anti-SLAPP law, and by concluding they failed to demonstrate a probability of succeeding on the merits of that cause of action.