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People v. Thomas

California Court of Appeals, Second District, First Division
May 24, 2011
No. B223756 (Cal. Ct. App. May. 24, 2011)

Opinion

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA359581 Ronald H. Rose, Judge.

Robert Derham, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Jonathan J. Kline, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.


MALLANO, P. J.

Defendant Kenneth W. Thomas appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial in which he was convicted of carjacking. Defendant contends, and the Attorney General agrees, that he was entitled to three additional days of presentence conduct credits. We modify the award of credits, but otherwise affirm.

BACKGROUND

On July 17, 2009, defendant knocked on the door of Etelmina Cubas’s Los Angeles home and asked to test-drive a truck she had for sale. During the test-drive, defendant pointed a gun at Cubas’s ribs and ordered her to get out. She did so, and defendant drove away. An Inglewood police officer spotted the truck eight days later and discovered that it had been reported stolen. A wallet sitting on the seat of the truck contained defendant’s photo identification card. Officers saw defendant standing across the street, watching them, and they arrested him. Cubas identified defendant as the carjacker from a six-pack of photographs and at trial. She also found photographs of defendant among papers left in her truck.

A jury convicted defendant of carjacking, but could not reach a verdict on an allegation that he personally used a gun in the commission of the offense. The trial court declared a mistrial as to the gun-use allegation, then dismissed it. Defendant waived a jury trial on allegations that he had 17 prior “strike” convictions and one prior serious felony conviction within the scope of Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a). After being advised of his rights, defendant admitted two of the strike allegations and the Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a) allegation. The trial court sentenced him to 30 years to life in prison.

On appeal, defendant initially contended that he had not been advised of his rights prior to admitting the prior conviction allegations and that he admitted only one prior strike conviction. We granted the Attorney General’s motion to order the trial court to settle the record. The trial court complied with the order and determined, without opposition from either trial attorney, that defendant had been advised of, and waived, his right to a jury trial, his privilege against self-incrimination, his right to remain silent, and his right to confront and cross-examine witnesses. The trial court further found that defendant admitted two strike priors. By letter to this court dated March 15, 2011, defendant conceded that the settlement of the record disposed of the first two issues he raised on appeal.

DISCUSSION

The sole issue remaining after settlement of the record is the trial court’s calculation of presentence conduct credits. The parties agree that defendant was entitled to 33 days, whereas the trial court awarded him 30 days. We agree and modify the judgment to reflect 33 days of presentence conduct credit, for a total of 257 days of presentence credit.

DISPOSITION

The judgment is modified to reflect 33 days of presentence conduct credit, for a total of 257 days of presentence credit. The trial court is directed to issue an amended abstract of judgment reflecting the correct credit award. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.

We concur: ROTHSCHILD, J.JOHNSON, J.


Summaries of

People v. Thomas

California Court of Appeals, Second District, First Division
May 24, 2011
No. B223756 (Cal. Ct. App. May. 24, 2011)
Case details for

People v. Thomas

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. KENNETH W. THOMAS, Defendant and…

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

Date published: May 24, 2011

Citations

No. B223756 (Cal. Ct. App. May. 24, 2011)