Opinion
D076099
11-19-2019
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. TYLER TORRES, Defendant and Appellant.
Tyler Jordan Torres, in pro. per.; Andrea S. Bitar, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. (Super. Ct. No. SCD238344) APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Joan P. Weber, Judge. Affirmed. Tyler Jordan Torres, in pro. per.; Andrea S. Bitar, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
In 2012, a jury convicted Tyler Torres of two counts of assault by force likely to cause great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)); two counts of resisting an executive officer (§ 69); and one count of battery on an officer (§ 243, subd. (b)).
All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.
At the sentencing hearing, the court rejected Torres's claim he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of his military service. Torres was sentenced to a term of nine years four months in prison.
In 2019, Torres petitioned the court for resentencing under section 1170.91 on the basis his offenses were in part the result of PTSD. The trial court appointed counsel and conducted an evidentiary hearing. Ultimately the court determined important information regarding PTSD had not been presented by defense counsel. As a result of finding ineffective assistance of 2012 trial counsel, the court granted the petition to recall the sentence and ordered that Torres be immediately released on parole.
Torres filed a timely notice of appeal from the order granting his request for resentencing.
Appellate counsel has filed a Wende brief (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende)), indicating she has not been able to identify any arguable issues for reversal on appeal. Counsel asks this court to review the record for error as mandated by Wende. We offered Torres the opportunity to file his own brief on appeal. Torres has responded with a brief he identifies as "APPELLANT'S REAL OPENING BRIEF." We will address the issues raised by Torres later in this opinion.
The facts of the 2012 convictions are not relevant to the resolution of the current appeal. We will omit a statement of facts from those offenses. --------
DISCUSSION
As we have noted, appellate counsel has asked the court to review the record for error as mandated by Wende. To assist the court in its review of the record, and in compliance with Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 (Anders), counsel has identified an issue she considered in evaluating the merits of this appeal: Does a cognizable appellate issue exist where the trial court granted the appellant's request for resentencing.
In his separate brief, Torres does not address the merits of the court's decision to grant the resentencing he requested in the 2019 petition. Rather, the focus of appellant's brief is his complaint that trial counsel was ineffective in 2012. He argues his repeated motions to replace counsel were erroneously denied. Torres does not specifically complain about the granting of his motion to recall the sentence, other than the implied claim the judge in 2019 should have done something about the ineffectiveness of counsel from 2012.
This appeal is from the order granting appellant's petition. The only issue regarding previous counsel related to counsel's failure to produce favorable evidence of PTSD in 2012. The validity of the long-final convictions was not before the court in 2019.
We have reviewed the entire record as mandated by Wende and Anders. We have not discovered any arguable issues for reversal on appeal. Competent counsel has represented Torres on this appeal.
DISPOSITION
The 2019 order granting appellant's request for resentencing is affirmed.
HUFFMAN, J. WE CONCUR: McCONNELL, P. J. HALLER, J.