From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Alvarez

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division
Jan 7, 2009
No. E044438 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 7, 2009)

Opinion

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County No. FSB047958, Brian S. McCarville, Judge.

Dacia A. Burz, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.


OPINION

RAMIREZ P. J.

Defendant and appellant Ruben Alvarez, Jr., appeals following his guilty plea to felon in possession of a firearm. (Pen. Code, § 12021, subd. (a)(1).) We affirm.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 25, 2005, defendant was charged with assault with a firearm upon a peace officer (§ 245, subd. (d)(1), count 1), exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer (§ 417, subd. (c), count 2), and possession of a firearm by a felon (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1), count 3). With respect to count 1, it was further alleged defendant personally used a firearm within the meaning of sections 12022.53, subdivision (b), and 12022.5, subdivisions (a) and (d). Prior conviction allegations included a strike (§§ 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d), 667, subds. (b)-(i)), a serious felony (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)), and a prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)).

At the preliminary hearing, a responding officer testified he made contact with defendant inside an apartment complex. After knocking several times and announcing his presence, the officer kicked down a closed bedroom door with his gun pulled. Defendant was inside the bedroom and pulled out a “shiny object” that appeared to be a handgun. A gun was later found inside the bedroom.

Pursuant to a written plea agreement, defendant pled guilty on May 15, 2007, to count 3, felon in possession of a firearm (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)), and admitted the prior strike allegation. Counts 1 and 2 were dismissed. Defendant was sentenced to six years in prison as provided in the plea agreement. The plea agreement also provided defendant would not suffer a strike as a result of his plea of guilty to count 3.

DISCUSSION

On or about October 29, 2007, the superior court received a letter from defendant indicating he wished to appeal because he believed he “received a strike for this case” by mistake and in violation of his plea agreement. As the court concluded in response to an earlier letter from defendant, the record shows defendant did not plead guilty to a strike offense in this case, as provided in the plea agreement. However, he did admit he had a prior strike from a previous case. The trial court indicated it was using this prior strike to double the base term of three years pursuant to sections 1170.12, subdivisions (a) through (d), and 667, subdivisions (b) through (i), in order to arrive at the six-year term defendant agreed to as part of the plea agreement. The court deemed defendant’s letter to be a timely notice of appeal.

We appointed counsel to represent defendant on appeal. Appointed counsel on appeal has filed a brief under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 and Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738, setting forth the facts and procedural history, raising no specific issues, and requesting this court to conduct an independent review of the record. We offered defendant an opportunity to file a personal supplemental brief, which he failed to do. We have now concluded our independent review of the record and find no arguable issues.

DISPOSITION

The judgment is affirmed.

We concur: GAUT J., MILLER J.


Summaries of

People v. Alvarez

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division
Jan 7, 2009
No. E044438 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 7, 2009)
Case details for

People v. Alvarez

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RUBEN ALVAREZ, JR., Defendant and…

Court:California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division

Date published: Jan 7, 2009

Citations

No. E044438 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 7, 2009)