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People v. Curteman

California Court of Appeals, First District, Third Division
Jan 31, 2011
No. A128868 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 31, 2011)

Opinion


THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. VERNON FRANKLIN CURTEMAN, JR., Defendant and Appellant. A128868 California Court of Appeal, First District, Third Division January 31, 2011

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Humboldt County Super. Ct. No. CR094140

SIGGINS, J.

Vernon Franklin Curteman, Jr., appeals from a judgment and sentence following his guilty plea. His court-appointed counsel has filed a brief seeking our independent review of the record pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 to determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. We conclude there are no arguable issues for review, and affirm.

BACKGROUND

The Offenses

Defendant committed the charged offenses while domestic violence restraining orders were effective that prohibited him from contact with his estranged (now former) wife, J. and 16-year-old son C. The facts are taken from the preliminary hearing transcript.

In mid-February 2009, defendant left a note on J.’s apartment door that read: “Left fresh milk for you in the fridge.” J. felt threatened by it because defendant did not have a key to her apartment. She described it as “harassment and terrorizing, just to kind of keep me wondering if [defendant] was in there.”

Defendant was at J.’s apartment the morning of April 15, 2009. He left before police arrived, but an officer located him parked in a nearby lot. Defendant said he went to J.’s apartment because he wanted to take C. golfing, but C. refused to open the door.

On June 3, 2009, J. arrived home to find a dozen multi-colored roses left at her door with printed note cards that read “Thinking of you, ” and “I’m sorry.”

On July 5, 2009, defendant pulled up alongside C.’s truck on a bicycle, and told C. to pull over. C. sped away. Two days later C. was at a golf course driving a golf cart when defendant pulled up in his truck, stopped him, and “kept on asking me why I wouldn’t talk to him and why I wouldn’t see him.” C. drove away.

On July 14, 2009, defendant again approached C. at the golf course and resumed questioning the boy about why he would not see him. C. tried to leave, but defendant pushed and shoved C. to keep him from walking away. C. finally managed to get to the pro shop, where a man told defendant to leave.

On July 16, C. was sitting in the pro shop when defendant came in and started asking him the same questions. C. tried to get up but defendant kept pushing him back down. The incident ended when the golf professional told defendant to leave. The same afternoon, defendant rode his motorcycle slowly past J.’s office window and twice around her office building.

The morning of July 27, 2009, defendant pulled behind J. as she drove to work and followed her, saying “I love you, [J.], I love you, [J.].” J. sped up and defendant eventually backed off.

On August 8, 2009, defendant parked on a hill overlooking J.’s apartment complex. J. called the police. While she was on the phone, defendant drove by “really slow at the end of my road looking down at my apartment.”

The morning of August 26, 2009, J. smelled a strange odor when she opened the door of her car. She walked to the back of the car and saw defendant in the back seat. He got out holding a gun, and grabbed J.’s cell phone as she tried to call the police. Defendant pointed the gun at her and said “You’ve ruined my life and we’re taking care of this today, [J.].”

J. screamed for help. Defendant grabbed her and pushed her into the driver’s seat. Sitting behind J., he held the gun on her and ordered her to drive. J. blared the horn as loudly as she could and ran screaming from the car. Defendant pursued her with the gun and tried to push and pull her back into the car.

C. came out of the apartment and pulled defendant off of his mother, and she ran to her neighbor’s apartment. Defendant, still holding the gun, grabbed C. and pulled him into J.’s apartment. He forced C. to stay with him in the apartment for seven and a half hours, until police officers persuaded him to release the boy.

The Legal Proceedings

Defendant was charged with multiple offenses and special allegations, including false imprisonment for purposes of protection from arrest with personal use of a firearm, kidnapping with personal use of a firearm, stalking, and making criminal a threat. Defendant initially entered a not guilty plea to all charges and denied the special allegations, but after the court denied a motion to dismiss the false imprisonment count he changed his plea pursuant to a negotiated disposition. Defendant entered a guilty plea to one count each of kidnapping, stalking, and battery on a spouse or cohabitant, and admitted the personal gun use allegation. Defendant agreed to a stipulated prison term consisting of an aggravated eight-year term for kidnapping plus a midterm on the gun use allegation, for a total sentence of 12 years, with a three year mid-term for stalking and one year for battery to run concurrently. The court advised defendant of his constitutional rights, found he understood the nature of the charges and the consequences of his pleas and admissions, and found they had a factual basis.

Defendant was sentenced in accordance with the agreed disposition. He was awarded 303 days of presentence credits. The court imposed a $4,000 restitution fine and a parole revocation fine (suspended).

DISCUSSION

Defendant’s counsel has represented that he advised defendant of his intention to file a Wende brief in this case and of defendant’s right to submit supplemental written argument on his own behalf. Defendant has not done so. Defendant has also been advised of his right to request that counsel be relieved. This court has reviewed the entire record on appeal. No issue requires further briefing. In light of this resolution, defendant’s request for judicial notice is denied as moot.

DISPOSITION

The judgment is affirmed.

We concur: McGuiness, P.J., Pollak, J.


Summaries of

People v. Curteman

California Court of Appeals, First District, Third Division
Jan 31, 2011
No. A128868 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 31, 2011)
Case details for

People v. Curteman

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. VERNON FRANKLIN CURTEMAN, JR.…

Court:California Court of Appeals, First District, Third Division

Date published: Jan 31, 2011

Citations

No. A128868 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 31, 2011)