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People v. Reyna

California Court of Appeals, Fifth District
May 2, 2008
No. F053668 (Cal. Ct. App. May. 2, 2008)

Opinion

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kings County No. 06CM7761, Louis F. Bissig, Judge.

John P. Dwyer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.


OPINION

THE COURT

Before Harris, Acting P.J., Levy, J. and Hill, J.

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Jesus Reyna was sentenced to an aggregate term of 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. He has filed an appeal pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. We will affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Case No. 06CM7721

Around midnight on July 27, 2006, officers of the Corcoran Police Department contacted Desiree Griego, who reported appellant (her boyfriend) had been drinking that night, and he pushed, punched, and kicked her several times during an argument. She suffered bruises to her arms and forehead. Appellant also vandalized her car as he fled after the incident. About an hour later, the police stopped appellant as he drove through a stop sign. There was an open can of beer and a claw hammer in the car, he smelled of alcohol, he was driving without a license, he failed two breathalyzer tests, and his blood-alcohol level was .14 percent. Appellant was advised of the warnings pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda), and admitted drinking and pushing Griego but denied hitting her.

Based on this incident, appellant was charged in the Superior Court of Kings County with four misdemeanors: Count I, inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a)), count II, driving while intoxicated (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)), count III, driving with a blood-alcohol level of. 08 percent or more (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (b)), and count IV, driving without a valid driver’s license (Veh. Code, § 12500, subd. (a)).

Case No. 06CM7761

Around 10:30 p.m. on October 13, 2006, members of the Amezcua family were having a birthday party at their house in Corcoran. A man arrived on the front lawn in a black hooded sweatshirt, produced a .22-caliber rifle, and opened fire at family members who were in the garage. One shot hit Hector Amezcua, Jr. in the buttocks and another shot hit Luis Guerrero in the back. The gunman fled after the shots were fired. Amezcua was treated and released from the hospital. Guerrero’s injuries were more serious. The bullet went through his spine and intestines, missed his aorta, lodged in his pelvic area, and part of his intestines was surgically removed.

Further investigation led the police to appellant’s girlfriend, Desiree Griego, who told several different stories but ultimately admitted she was driving around with appellant and another friend that night. When they passed the party at the Amezcua house, she told appellant that the people at that house had previously thrown bottles at her car. She kept driving for a few blocks and appellant told her to stop. Appellant and the friend left the car and walked away. A short time later, they ran back to the car and appellant said his friend had just shot someone. Griego sped away, crashed her car, and they all fled the scene.

Appellant was arrested, advised of the Miranda warnings, and gave a statement that he was with Griego and another friend, Chapparito, that night. Appellant said they were drinking, discussed an incident where some people threw bottles at Griego’s car, and decided to confront the culprits. Appellant and Chapparito walked up to the house, and Chapparito pulled out a rifle and started shooting at people in the garage. Appellant said he was shocked and they ran back to Griego’s car. As he talked to the police, however, appellant started crying and changed his story. Appellant said Griego had nothing to do with the shooting, and admitted he shot both victims with his .22-caliber sawed-off rifle.

Based on this incident, appellant was charged with counts I and II, assault with a semi-automatic firearm (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (b)), with special allegations as to both counts that he personally used a firearm, a rifle (§ 12022.5).

Pleas and Sentences

On July 31, 2007, appellant pleaded guilty to the two felony assault counts in case No. 06CM7761, admitted the personal use enhancement as to count I, and the court granted the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the personal use enhancement as to count II.

Appellant also pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor count II in case No. 06CM7721, driving while intoxicated, and the court granted the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the remaining charges. The court also dismissed a probation violation in case No. 06CM7546 as part of the plea agreement.

On August 30, 2007, the court imposed an aggregate term of 21 years as follows: count I, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, the upper term of nine years, with a consecutive term of 10 years for the personal use enhancement; count II, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, a consecutive term of two years (one-third the midterm); and misdemeanor count II, driving while intoxicated, a concurrent term of six months.

In the felony case, the court imposed a restitution fine of $3,000 pursuant to Penal Code section 1202.4, subdivision (b), a $3,000 parole revocation fine pursuant to section 1202.45 that was stayed pending successful completion of parole, and a $40 court security fee. The court also ordered victim restitution of $70,908.05 to Luis Guerrero and reserved jurisdiction for further victim restitution. The court awarded 320 days of actual credit and 48 days of conduct credits, for a total of 368 days pursuant to section 2933.1.

In the misdemeanor case, the court imposed a $100 restitution fine, a $20 court security fee, and $1,698 in fines and penalty assessments. The court awarded 321 days of actual credit and 160 days of conduct credits, for a total of 481 days.

On August 31, 2007, appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.

DISCUSSION

Appellant’s appointed counsel has filed an opening brief which adequately summarizes the facts and adequately cites to the record, which raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d 436.) By letter of December 10, 2007, this court invited appellant to submit additional briefing and state any grounds of appeal he may wish this court to consider. Appellant has not done so.

After independent review of the record, we have concluded no reasonably arguable legal or factual arguments exist.

DISPOSITION

The judgment is affirmed.


Summaries of

People v. Reyna

California Court of Appeals, Fifth District
May 2, 2008
No. F053668 (Cal. Ct. App. May. 2, 2008)
Case details for

People v. Reyna

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JESUS REYNA, Defendant and…

Court:California Court of Appeals, Fifth District

Date published: May 2, 2008

Citations

No. F053668 (Cal. Ct. App. May. 2, 2008)