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People v. Mendoza

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division
Oct 28, 2008
No. E045350 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 28, 2008)

Opinion

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County No. FSB042773, Arthur Harrison, Judge.

William D. Farber, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.


OPINION

RICHLI, J.

I

INTRODUCTION

An information charged Alejandro Cesar Mendoza with one count of murder under Penal Code section 187, one count of attempted murder under sections 664 and 187, and three counts of making a criminal threat under section 422. Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, defendant pled guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter under section 192, subdivision (a), and admitted that he personally used a firearm under section 12022.5, subdivision (a). Defendant was sentenced to the midterm of six years for voluntary manslaughter, plus the midterm of four years on the section 12022.5, subdivision (a) enhancement, for a total sentence of 10 years. In addition, a restitution fine under section 1202.4 and a parole revocation fine under section 1202.45 were imposed in the sum of $800 each.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

Although defendant pled guilty to section 12022.5, as indicated in the plea agreement and reporter’s transcript, the minute order and the abstract of judgment inaccurately state that defendant pled guilty to section 12022.53. Therefore, both the minute order and abstract of judgment should be amended to correctly reflect that defendant pled guilty to section 12022.5.

At the time of the sentencing, defendant objected to the imposition of the victim restitution fine on the ground that it had not been part of the plea agreement. It was agreed that the award of victim restitution would be deferred to a later hearing. At the victim restitution hearing, the trial court ordered restitution in the requested amount of $50,746.11.

Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.

II

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Because the appeal presents only potential legal challenges to the restitution award, no statement of facts is provided. However, the procedural background regarding the restitution award is hereby provided.

After defendant pled guilty to the voluntary manslaughter charge, the trial court raised the issue of restitution. The prosecution indicated that it was requesting victim restitution. The defense responded that victim restitution was not part of the plea agreement. Moreover, defendant expressed concern that any obligation imposed would become the responsibility of his family. The parties therefore agreed that the trial court would reserve jurisdiction and hold a subsequent hearing on the amount of restitution, if any, to award the victims. Thereafter, the prosecution filed a motion for restitution, attaching supporting documents.

At the hearing on the motion for restitution, the prosecution requested $50,746.11 in restitution; the amount reflected the funds expended by the Victims Restitution Board on behalf of the victims of the charged offenses. The defense objected to the restitution request on the grounds that the majority of the restitution involved medical expenses incurred by the victim of the attempted murder; a charge to which defendant had not pled guilty, and that had been dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The prosecution responded that the restitution related to the dismissed count was permissible because defendant had executed a Harvey waiver in conjunction with his plea. The trial court agreed and awarded restitution in the amount of $50,746.11.

People v. Harvey (1979) 25 Cal.3d 754 [a sentencing court may not consider previously dismissed charges not transactionally related to the charges of which defendant is convicted].)

III

ANALYSIS

After 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, a summary of the facts, and potential arguable issues and requesting this court to undertake a review of the entire record.

We offered defendant an opportunity to file a personal supplemental brief, which he has not done.

We have now concluded our independent review of the record and find no arguable issues.

IV

DISPOSITION

The superior court clerk is directed to amend the abstract of judgment and minute order of February 9, 2007, to correctly reflect that defendant pled guilty to section 12022.5, not section 12022.53, and forward a corrected copy of the abstract to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.

We concur: RAMIREZ P. J., MILLER J.


Summaries of

People v. Mendoza

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division
Oct 28, 2008
No. E045350 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 28, 2008)
Case details for

People v. Mendoza

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ALEJANDRO CESAR MENDOZA…

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

Date published: Oct 28, 2008

Citations

No. E045350 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 28, 2008)