P. v. Ortega
Defendant and appellant Armondo Gib Ortega was convicted, following a court trial, of six counts of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, 288, subd. (a))[1], and one count of willfully failing to follow the registration requirements for a convicted sex offender ( 290). The court also found true allegations that defendant suffered both a prior strike conviction ( 1170.12) and a prior violent felony conviction ( 667, subd. (a)). Defendant challenges this conviction on numerous grounds, arguing that (1) he did not receive adequate notice of the charges filed against him; (2) he was denied assistance of counsel regarding his motion for a new trial; (3) insufficient evidence existed to support his six section 288, subdivision (a), convictions; (4) insufficient evidence existed to support his conviction for failing to register as a sex offender ( 290); (5) the trial courts sentence violates due process because the sentence was imposed in order to punish defendant for asserting his right to a trial; (6) he was entitled to a jury trial on the question of whether he was entitled to probation under 1203.066; and whether he had a prior serious felony conviction; (7) there was no substantial evidence of his probation ineligibility; (8) the court failed to find he did not meet the conditions for probation eligibility; (9) the court failed to properly state its reasons for imposing consecutive terms; and (10) he was denied his federal due process rights under Blakely v. Washington (2004) 542 U.S. 296, (Blakely) when the trial court imposed the upper term on count 3 based on facts that had not been either admitted or found to be true by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. None of these contentions has any merit and, accordingly, Court affirm the judgment of conviction.
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