Opinion
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Received for posting 3/11/10
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Stanislaus County No. 1108850 Nancy Ashley, Judge.
Alison E. Kaylor, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Office of the State Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
Before Levy, A.P.J., Cornell, J., and Gomes, J.
In the early morning of May 10, 2006, a security guard responded to the backdoor alarm at Tractor Supply Company in Turlock and found a woman in the parking lot behind the store. Soon after the woman told him her husband was in the store, the guard detained and handcuffed appellant, Michael Cooley, after seeing him walk out the back door carrying store merchandise.
Turlock Police Officer Miguel Pacheco soon arrived on the scene and took custody of Cooley. Pacheco searched Cooley and found a syringe in a leather pouch Cooley had strapped across his chest. Cooley told Pacheco that he and his wife had been at the rear of the building when they saw merchandise stacked outside the store, near the back door. He then entered the store through the back door and called out to any employees who might be there. After receiving no response, Cooley walked out of the building. He had just picked up the merchandise when the security guard detained him.
On June 29, 2006, the district attorney filed an information charging Cooley with one count each of second degree burglary (count I/Pen. Code, § 459) and possession of a hypodermic needle (count II/Bus. & Prof. Code, § 4140). Count I also alleged three prior prison term enhancements (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)).
On September 14, 2006, Cooley made a Marsden motion but he withdrew it during a hearing the court conducted on the motion. Also on that date, the district attorney filed an amended information that added an allegation that Cooley had a prior conviction within the meaning of the three strikes law (Pen. Code, § 667, subds. (b)-(i)).
People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118.
On August 5, 2008, Cooley made another Marsden motion which the court denied.
On September 8, 2008, Cooley pled no contest to second degree burglary and admitted the three strikes law allegations in exchange for a lid of four years and the dismissal of the remaining count and allegations.
On November 17, 2008, Cooley moved to withdraw his plea. The court then appointed substitute counsel to represent Cooley in investigating whether there were valid grounds for filing such a motion but kept his current counsel as attorney of record.
On February 10, 2009, substitute counsel informed the court he believed his appointment was premature because Cooley was complaining about his representation by his first appointed counsel and the court had not conducted a Marsden hearing. The court continued the hearing to February 17, 2009, and on that date relieved substitute counsel from representing Cooley.
On March 11, 2009, the court heard and denied Cooley’s Marsden motion. The court then sentenced Cooley to a four-year term, the middle term of two years on his burglary conviction, doubled to four years because of Cooley’s prior strike conviction.
Cooley’s appellate counsel has filed a brief which summarizes the facts, with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) Cooley has not responded to this court’s invitation to submit additional briefing.
Following independent review of the record, we find that no reasonably arguable factual or legal issues exist.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.