Opinion
F075893
07-18-2018
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. FELIPE HERNANDEZ, JR., Defendant and Appellant.
Martin Baker, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the State Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. 2066720)
OPINION
THE COURT APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Stanislaus County. Ricardo Cordova, Judge. Martin Baker, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the State Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Before Levy, Acting P.J., Peña, J. and Ellison, J.†
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A jury convicted appellant Felipe Hernandez, Jr., of evading a peace officer (Veh. Code, § 2800.2/count 1), child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (a)/count 2) unlawfully taking a vehicle with a prior conviction (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)/count 3), resisting arrest (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)/count 5), a misdemeanor, and providing false information to a peace officer (§ 148.9, subd. (a)/count 6). In a separate proceeding, Hernandez admitted four prior prison term enhancements (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). Following independent review of the record pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, we affirm.
All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise indicated.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On August 7, 2016, after shopping at a flea market in Modesto, Jose Paramo-Mosqueda returned to where he parked his Chevrolet Tahoe truck and discovered it missing.
The following morning, shortly after 3:38 a.m., Modesto Police Sergeant Manuel Corona and Officer Josh Shackelford began following the stolen Tahoe as it was being driven by Hernandez eastbound on Monterey Street. After a third officer joined them, Corona and Shackelford activated their patrol cars' overhead emergency lights and sirens. Hernandez slowed down and stopped at Tioga Drive. However, he then turned right and accelerated to over 35 miles per hour as the Tahoe moved back and forth across the lane. After Shackelford unsuccessfully attempted a maneuver to stop the truck, Hernandez again accelerated, made a sharp right at Hillside Drive and crossed into the oncoming traffic lane. Hernandez accelerated to 40 miles per hour and continued traveling in the wrong lane past the next intersection before hitting a bump in the road that caused the Tahoe to go airborne. When the truck landed back on the road, it swerved back and forth, hit some metal pylons, and went into a dirt field where it turned off.
Corona drove on the street just past the Tahoe and drew his firearm as he got out of his patrol car. Corona was able to see Hernandez in the driver's seat and a female in the front passenger's seat. As officers ordered the occupants of the truck to raise their hands and get out of the truck, Hernandez started the Tahoe, drove back on the road, and accelerated to approximately 45 to 50 miles per hour. Corona caught up to the Tahoe and hit it with his vehicle, causing it to spin and roll over before coming to rest upside down in a dirt field. Two females, one holding a child, came out of the truck. Hernandez fled, but was eventually apprehended hiding in some bushes. Hernandez gave Corona a false name and date of birth.
On February 21, 2017, the Merced County District Attorney filed an information that, in addition to the charges and enhancements he pled to, charged Hernandez with an additional charge of child endangerment (count 3), receiving a stolen vehicle (§ 496d/count 5), two additional prior prison term enhancements, and an on-bail enhancement (§ 12022.1).
On April 18, 2017, prior to the taking of testimony, the court granted the prosecutor's motion to dismiss count 3 and the on-bail enhancement. The following day, after both sides rested, the prosecutor filed a first amended information that renumbered counts 4 to 7 of the original information as counts 3 through 6, respectively.
On April 20, 2017, the jury rendered its verdict as noted above. Afterwards, Hernandez admitted four of the prior prison term enhancements and the court granted the prosecutor's motion to dismiss the remaining prison term enhancements.
The prosecutor also noted on the record that the on-bail enhancement was "stricken by operation of law" because the underlying case on which it was based had been dismissed. --------
On June 21, 2017, the court sentenced Hernandez to an aggregate term of nine years: the middle term of four years on his child endangerment conviction, a consecutive one-year term on his vehicle theft conviction (one-third the middle term of three years), a stayed upper term of three years on his evading a peace officer conviction, 4 one-year prior prison term enhancements, and concurrent terms on his misdemeanor convictions.
Hernandez's appellate counsel has filed a brief that summarizes the facts, with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d 436.) Hernandez has not responded to this court's invitation to submit additional briefing.
Following an independent review of the record, we find that no reasonably arguable factual or legal issues exist.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
† Judge of the Fresno Superior Court, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.