Opinion
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Stephen P. Pfahler, Judge. No. LA 055163
Catherine Campbell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
ROTHSCHILD, J.
On September 12, 2007, a jury convicted David Vrana of possession of methamphetamine in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11377, subdivision (a). On October 2, 2007, Vrana admitted various prior convictions, including one strike conviction pursuant to Penal Code sections 1170.12, subdivisions (a) through (d), and 667, subdivisions (b) through (i). The court sentenced Vrana to the middle term of 2 years in prison, doubled it to four years for the strike conviction, imposed various fines and fees, denied his motions for a new trial and to strike his prior strike conviction, and credited him with 307 days in custody.
Vrana timely appealed, and we appointed counsel to represent him. After examining the record, counsel filed a brief raising no issues and asking us independently to review the record pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. On April 15, 2008, we advised Vrana that he had 30 days within which to submit any contentions or issues he wished us to consider. To date we have received no response.
We have examined the entire record and are satisfied that Vrana’s appellate attorney has fully complied with her responsibilities and that no arguable issues exist. (People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, 109-110; People v. Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d at p. 441.) We are limited, of course, to reviewing only the record before us. (See People v. Neilson (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 1529, 1534).
At trial, the two arresting police officers testified that on the evening of March 12, 2007, they stopped Vrana for driving a car with an expired registration. When asked whether he was carrying any contraband, Vrana admitted that he had some marijuana in his pocket. One officer searched Vrana and found a paper bindle in his pocket containing something that looked like a usable amount of methamphetamine. The other officer searched Vrana’s passenger and found nothing; a search of the car also found nothing. The officers arrested Vrana, asked him what he wanted done with the car, and left it in the custody of the passenger per Vrana’s instructions. One officer filled out a field investigation card (FI card) with the passenger’s information. The officers took Vrana into custody, booked the bindle into evidence, and gave the FI card on the passenger to a police supervisor. By the time of trial, the police department could not locate the FI card. The two officers testified that in their experience, .02 grams (gross) of methamphetamine is a usable amount. A police criminalist testified that the bindle from Vrana’s pocket contained .16 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine.
Johnny McMillion, who earlier had filed an administrative complaint with the police department against the same officers who arrested Vrana, testified that at approximately 9:45 p.m. one night in 2005, the officers planted rock cocaine on McMillion when he was trying to chase some drug dealers away from the teenage soccer players he sponsored. The officers then arrested him for possession. McMillion’s case later was dismissed. On cross-examination, McMillion denied that he admitted to any probation violations on the day his case was dismissed. He also denied that he told the officers that two girls had put the cocaine in his pocket, but later acknowledged that he might have said that. He also misidentified which of the two officers searched him. In rebuttal, a district attorney testified that because McMillion admitted two probation violations and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, the district attorney dismissed the case. The officer who found cocaine in McMillion’s possession testified that he encountered McMillion at 12:50 a.m., not 9:45 p.m.; McMillion said he was looking for the two girls who put rock cocaine in his pocket; and an internal police investigation cleared the officer of McMillion’s charges. Vrana offered no other evidence. The jury convicted him of the charge.
Finding no error, we affirm the judgment.
We concur: MALLANO, P. J. NEIDORF, J.
Retired Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.