People v. Batista

201 Cal. App. 3d 1288, 248 Cal. Rptr. 46, 1988 Cal. App. LEXIS 524
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 8, 1988
DocketB023267
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 201 Cal. App. 3d 1288 (People v. Batista) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Batista, 201 Cal. App. 3d 1288, 248 Cal. Rptr. 46, 1988 Cal. App. LEXIS 524 (Cal. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Opinion

HANSON, Acting P. J

Introduction

After pleading guilty to first degree burglary in violation of Penal Code section 459, 1 defendant Robert Batista waived his right to a jury trial on the allegation that he was convicted of a prior residential burglary. The trial court found that allegation true, and sentenced defendant to the midterm of four years on the burglary charge and to an additional five years as a prior conviction enhancement. Batista appeals the judgment of conviction and the imposition of the enhancement.

In our opinion filed October 2, 1987, we affirmed the judgment of conviction but under the compulsion of People v. Alfaro (1986) 42 Cal.3d 627 [230 Cal.Rptr. 129, 724 P.2d 1154] reversed the judgment imposing an enhancement based on defendant’s prior burglary conviction. The California Supreme Court, after accepting the case for review, in its April 21, 1988, *1291 order, transferred the matter to this court for reconsideration in light of People v. Guerrero (1988) 44 Cal.3d 343 [243 Cal.Rptr. 688, 748 P.2d 1150].

Facts

On the afternoon of April 25, 1986, Margarita Carbajal returned to her apartment and discovered a man coming out of her bedroom. When she yelled at the intruder, he ran out the door towards the parking lot. Margarita’s husband, who was parking the car, heard her cry for help. Her husband apprehended the intruder and secured him until the police arrived in response to Mrs. Carbajal’s call.

A police investigation revealed that the middle part of the back door, where it is locked, had been broken. Defendant had a screwdriver on his person. Although it had not been reported to the police, Margarita later claimed that a ring was missing from the bedroom.

An information charging defendant with burglary was later amended to allege four prior convictions. At trial on August 1, 1986, the trial court granted defendant’s demurrer to three of the alleged prior convictions. Defendant pleaded guilty to the first degree burglary charge, and requested a court trial on the prior conviction. Upon reviewing the trial record on the prior conviction, the trial judge determined it to be true. The judge held that defendant’s prior plea of nolo contendere on a residential burglary fell within sections 667, subdivision (a) and 1192.7, and sentenced defendant to a five-year enhancement.

Issues

On appeal, defendant first contends that no evidence supports the judgment of conviction for burglary. Defendant also contends that the trial court erroneously sentenced him to a five-year enhancement for a prior conviction.

Discussion

I.

Despite having pleaded guilty to first degree burglary, defendant now contends that no evidence supported the conviction, and that the trial court at the preliminary hearing committed reversible error by denying the defense motion to dismiss for lack of evidence.

*1292 Penal Code section 1237.5 states that “[n]o appeal shall be taken by defendant from a judgment of conviction upon a plea of guilty . . ., except where: (a) The defendant has filed with the trial court a written statement, executed under oath or penalty of perjury showing reasonable constitutional, jurisdictional, or other grounds going to the legality of the proceedings; and (b) The trial court has executed and filed a certificate of probable cause for such appeal with the county clerk.”

Because defendant has failed to comply with both of these exceptions, his order of appeal on this issue is not reviewable. Moreover, his guilty plea admits that sufficient evidence exists, precluding appeal on this ground. (People v. Meyer (1986) 183 Cal.App.3d 1150, 1157 [228 Cal.Rptr. 635]; People v. Warburton (1970) 7 Cal.App.3d 815, 821 [86 Cal.Rptr. 894], cert. den. Warburton v. California (1971) 400 U.S. 1022 [27 L.Ed.2d 634, 91 S.Ct. 587].)

Defendant also contends that the trial court at the preliminary hearing erroneously denied a defense motion to dismiss for lack of evidence. Section 872, concerning the proof required at a preliminary hearing, states in part that if “it appears . . . that a public offense has been committed, and there is sufficient cause to believe the defendant guilty . . . ,” he must be held to answer.

“At a preliminary hearing, the magistrate must decide only whether there is ‘sufficient cause’ to believe the defendant guilty of a probable offense. That phrase is generally equivalent to ‘reasonable and probable cause[,]’ which has been defined as such a state of facts as would lead a [person] of ordinary caution and prudence to believe and conscientiously entertain a strong suspicion of the guilt of the accused.” (People v. Orduno (1978) 80 Cal.App.3d 738, 750 [145 Cal.Rptr. 806], cert. den. Orduno v. California (1979) 439 U.S. 1074 [59 L.Ed.2d 41, 99 S.Ct. 849].)

The record reveals that the preliminary hearing produced sufficient evidence to bind defendant over to superior court. Neither the preliminary trial court nor the trial court erred, and we affirm the burglary conviction.

II.

On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erroneously imposed a five-year enhancement for a prior conviction under Penal Code sections 667, subdivision (a) and 1192.7.

Because defendant pleaded no contest to an allegation of residential burglary in case number A528796, in an August 1, 1986, hearing, the trial *1293 court found the allegation of a prior conviction for residential burglary to be true in the case at bench, within the meaning of Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a).

Under Penal Code sections 667, subdivision (a) and 1192.7, a five-year enhancement may be imposed for every prior conviction for a “serious felony.” The list of serious felonies in section 1192.7 includes “burglary of an inhabited dwelling house. . . .”

Our opinion filed October 2, 1987, under the compulsion of People v. Alfaro (1986) 42 Cal.3d 627 [230 Cal.Rptr. 129, 724 P.2d 1154] and related cases, reversed the trial court’s enhancement for defendant’s prior burglary conviction, because it relied upon matter behind the record of conviction. The Supreme Court of the State of California, however, in its order filed April 21, 1988, has transferred People v. Batista to this court for reconsideration in light of People v. Guerrero (1988) 44 Cal.3d 343 [243 Cal.Rptr.

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Bluebook (online)
201 Cal. App. 3d 1288, 248 Cal. Rptr. 46, 1988 Cal. App. LEXIS 524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-batista-calctapp-1988.