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People v. Sanders

California Court of Appeals, Fifth District
Jan 9, 2008
No. F052487 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 9, 2008)

Opinion


THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOE NATHAN SANDERS, Defendant and Appellant. F052487 California Court of Appeal, Fifth District January 9, 2008

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County No. BF114464A. James B. Stuart, Judge.

Marilyn Drath, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

THE COURT

Before Vartabedian, Acting P.J., Harris, J., and Wiseman, J.

On April 19, 2006, California Highway Patrolman Shane Holteschulte saw a car driven by appellant, Joe Nathan Sanders, traveling over 90 miles per hour on Panama Lane in Bakersfield. After stopping Sanders, Holteschulte noticed that Sanders’s eyes were bloodshot, his eyelids droopy, and the interior of the car smelled like burnt marijuana. The officer conducted a series of field sobriety tests and placed Sanders under arrest after he failed them. As Officer Holteschulte escorted Sanders to the patrol car, he noticed that Sanders dropped a plastic baggie containing 7.9 grams of cocaine base. Sanders admitted buying the cocaine base for $200. The officer also found approximately 15.5 grams of marijuana in Sanders’s jacket.

Following a preliminary hearing, on March 25, 2006, the district attorney filed an information charging Sanders with one count each of transportation of cocaine base (count 1/Health & Saf. Code, § 11352), possession for sale of cocaine base (count 2/Health & Saf. Code, § 11351.5), driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (count 3/Veh/ Code, § 23152, subd. (a)), and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana (count 4/Health & Saf. Code § 11357, subd. (b)). Counts 1 and 2 also alleged four prior conviction enhancements (Health & Saf. Code, § 11370.2) and five prior prison term enhancements (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)).

On October 13, 2006, the court denied Sanders’s Marsden motion.

People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118.

On October 23, 2006, Sanders substituted retained counsel for appointed counsel.

On December 8, 2006, Sanders filed a motion to suppress.

On January 3, 32007, the court denied Sanders’s motion to suppress.

On January 16, 2007, Sanders pled guilty to transportation of cocaine and admitted a prior conviction enhancement in exchange for a maximum term of eight years and the dismissal of the remaining counts and enhancements.

On March 7, 2007, the court sentenced Sanders to an aggregate seven-year term: the middle term of four years on his transportation conviction and a three-year prior conviction enhancement.

Sanders’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.) Sanders has not responded to this court’s invitation to submit additional briefing. However, our review of the record disclosed that Sanders’s abstract of judgment erroneously states that he was convicted of possession of cocaine base. We will direct the trial court to correct this error.

Further, following independent review of the record we find that no reasonably arguable factual or legal issues exist.

DISPOSITION

The trial court is directed to issue an amended abstract of judgment that correctly reflects that Sanders was convicted of violating Health and Safety Code section 11352, transportation of cocaine base, rather than possession of cocaine base and to forward a copy to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.


Summaries of

People v. Sanders

California Court of Appeals, Fifth District
Jan 9, 2008
No. F052487 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 9, 2008)
Case details for

People v. Sanders

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOE NATHAN SANDERS, Defendant and…

Court:California Court of Appeals, Fifth District

Date published: Jan 9, 2008

Citations

No. F052487 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 9, 2008)