Opinion
F054830
9-3-2008
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BERNARD KEVIN CHATMAN, Defendant and Appellant.
Steven A. Torres, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Not to be Published
OPINION
THE COURT
Before Wiseman, Acting P.J., Gomes, J., and Kane, J.
All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
PROCEEDINGS
On November 20, 2007, the prosecutor filed a criminal complaint charging appellant, Bernard Kevin Chatman, with failing to register as a sex offender when he changed his residence to Stanislaus County (Pen. Code, § 290).1 The complaint alleged one prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i)) and three prior prison term enhancements (§ 667.5, subd. (b)).
On January 8, 2008, Chatman entered into a plea agreement in which he would admit that he failed to register as a sex offender, receive the midterm sentence of two years, and the remaining allegations would be dismissed. The parties stipulated that the factual basis for the plea was that on or about November 18, 2007, Chatman was out of compliance in his requirement to register his address with the local police department after moving from Paso Robles to Stanislaus County. The trial court informed Chatman of the consequences of his plea. Chatman waived his right to have a formal probation report and agreed to be sentenced at the change of plea hearing.
Defense counsel advised the court that Chatman was currently on probation for violating section 273.5 in San Luis Obispo County and had a suspended three-year sentence in that action. Defense counsel advised Chatman that by pleading guilty in the instant action, he faced an additional sentence of three years in the other case if the court in San Luis Obispo County found Chatman in violation of probation. Defense counsel further advised appellant that if he was sentenced consecutively in San Luis Obispo County for the section 273.5 offense and the instant action, Chatman would serve one-third the midterm for admitting the violation of section 290 and would serve an additional sentence of eight months for his admission of the section 273.5 offense.
The court established that no one had threatened Chatman and he understood the nature of the charges against him. Chatman acknowledged he was entering the plea freely and voluntarily. The court advised Chatman of, and Chatman waived, his constitutional rights pursuant to Boykin/Tahl. Defense counsel informed the court that he advised Chatman that if Chatman was not taken back to San Luis Obispo County right away and went instead directly to the Department of Corrections, Chatman needed to file a demand pursuant to section 1381 with the district attorneys office. Chatman told the court that he understood his counsels advice.
Boykin v. Alabama (1969) 395 U.S. 238; In re Tahl (1969) 1 Cal.3d 122.
Chatman pled no contest to violation of section 290. The trial court granted the prosecutors motion to dismiss the remaining allegations. The court sentenced Chatman to the midterm of two years in prison. The court imposed a restitution fine of $400. The court awarded Chatman total custody credits of 73 days. Appellant obtained a certificate of probable cause.
Appellate counsel discovered an error in the number of Chatmans custody credits. The trial court amended the minute order and abstract of judgment to show appellant has 79 days of custody credits.
Chatmans appointed appellate counsel has filed an opening brief which summarizes the pertinent facts, raises no issues, and requests this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) The opening brief also includes the declaration of appellate counsel indicating that appellant was advised he could file his own brief with this court. By letter on May 28, 2008, we invited appellant to submit additional briefing. To date, he has not done so.
After independent review of the record, we have concluded there are no reasonably arguable legal or factual issues.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.