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People v. Compton

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO
Jan 13, 2012
E053585 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 13, 2012)

Opinion

E053585 Super.Ct.No. RIF123090

01-13-2012

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ROBERT DEMPSEY COMPTON III, Defendant and Appellant.

Victoria Barana, 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication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.


OPINION

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Michele D. Levine, Judge. Affirmed.

Victoria Barana, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

On November 26, 2008, defendant Robert Dempsey Compton III pled guilty to all charges in the information that was filed against him. The charges included committing a lewd act on a child under 14 years of age (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a), count 1), two counts of committing a lewd act on a child under 16 years of age, who was more than 10 years younger than him (§ 288, subd. (c)(1), counts 2 & 3), willfully and unlawfully annoying a child under the age of 18 (§ 647.6, subd. (a), count 4), and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor (§ 272, subd. (a), counts 5 & 6). On March 20, 2009, he was sentenced to state prison for a total term of six years eight months. On May 1, 2009, defendant filed an appeal, and this court affirmed the judgment. On November 16, 2009, defendant filed a writ of habeas corpus (case No. E049631), which this court denied.

All further statutory references will be to the Penal Code, unless otherwise noted.

This court affirmed the judgment in an unpublished opinion. (People v. Compton (July 20, 2010, E048271) [nonpub. opn.].) This court took judicial notice of the record in E048271 at defendant's request.
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On April 6, 2011, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and a motion to disqualify Judge Michele Levine. The trial court denied both motions as untimely. On May 2, 2011, defendant filed a motion in response to the court's denial of his motions. The trial court considered it a request for reconsideration of the earlier motions and denied it.

On May 23, 2011, defendant filed a notice of appeal, stating that he was appealing from the decision entered on April 6, 2011 (on the motions to withdraw and to disqualify the judge). We affirm.

ANALYSIS

Defendant appealed, and upon his request this court appointed counsel to represent him. Counsel has filed a brief under the authority of People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 and Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 [87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493] setting forth a statement of the case and three potential arguable issues: 1) whether the trial court had jurisdiction to consider defendant's motions; 2) whether the court should have considered defendant's motion to withdraw the guilty plea as a petition for writ of error coram nobis; and 3) whether the trial court could have considered defendant's motion to withdraw the guilty plea as a petition for writ of habeas corpus. Counsel has also requested this court to undertake a review of the entire record.

We offered defendant an opportunity to file a personal supplemental brief, which he has done. Defendant asserts a myriad of claims, including that: 1) the trial court engaged in judicial plea bargaining; 2) his due process rights were violated when the court failed to advise him of his right to withdraw his plea, prior to accepting his plea; 3) the court breached the plea agreement by "removing probation from the sentencing range"; and 4) at the sentencing hearing, the court improperly permitted and reviewed a letter from an unknown alleged victim, in violation of section 1170, subdivision (b), section 1204, and several constitutional amendments.

At any time before judgment, the trial court may, on the defendant's application and for good cause shown, permit the defendant to withdraw a guilty plea. (§ 1018.) "A postjudgment motion to change a plea must be 'seasonably made.' [Citation.]. Thus, the trial court may properly consider the defendant's delay in making his application, and if 'considerable time' has elapsed between the guilty plea and the motion to withdraw the plea, the burden is on the defendant to explain and justify the delay. [Citation.] The reason for requiring due diligence is obvious. Substantial prejudice to the People may result if the case must proceed to trial after a long delay." (People v. Castaneda (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1612, 1618 (Castenada).)

In Castaneda, supra, 37 Cal.App.4th 1612, the defendant waited seven years after judgment to change his plea. Because the defendant did not offer a justification for the delay, the Court of Appeal held the trial court "acted well within the bounds of its discretion to deny relief on that ground alone." (Id. at p. 1618.)

Here, defendant waited two years after judgment to file his motions to withdraw his guilty plea and to disqualify Judge Michele Levine. Defendant did not offer, and still does not offer, any justification for the delay. We conclude that the trial court acted well within its discretion in denying the motions as untimely. (See Castaneda, supra, 37 Cal.App.4th at p. 1618.)

Pursuant to the mandate of People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, we have conducted an independent review of the record and find no arguable issues.

DISPOSITION

The judgment is affirmed.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

HOLLENHORST

Acting P. J.

We concur:

McKINSTER

J.

MILLER

J.


Summaries of

People v. Compton

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO
Jan 13, 2012
E053585 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 13, 2012)
Case details for

People v. Compton

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ROBERT DEMPSEY COMPTON III…

Court:COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO

Date published: Jan 13, 2012

Citations

E053585 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 13, 2012)