People v. Cardenas

239 Cal. App. 4th 220, 190 Cal. Rptr. 3d 787, 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 678
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 5, 2015
DocketE059820
StatusPublished
Cited by73 cases

This text of 239 Cal. App. 4th 220 (People v. Cardenas) 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. Cardenas, 239 Cal. App. 4th 220, 190 Cal. Rptr. 3d 787, 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 678 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion

RAMIREZ, P. J.

A jury found defendant and appellant Jose Rafael Cardenas guilty of one count of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211 j 1 count 1) and three counts of burglary (§ 459; counts 3, 4 & 5). As to counts 1 and 3, the jury found true that defendant had personally inflicted great bodily injury upon a person 70 years of age or older (§ 12022.7, subd. (c)) and that he had burglarized and robbed a person who was 65 years of age or older (§ 667.9, subd. (a)). 2 In a bifurcated proceeding, defendant admitted that he had served three prior prison terms within the meaning of section 667.5, subdivision (b). Defendant was sentenced to a total term of 18 years in state prison with credit of 451 days for time served. On appeal, defendant contends (1) there was insufficient evidence to support the great bodily injury enhancement attached to counts 1 and 3; (2) the trial court erred in imposing sentences on both counts 1 and 3 in violation of section 654; (3) the trial court erred in imposing punishment on the two enhancement allegations attached to count 1; and (4) the trial court erred in calculating his presentence custody credits. For the reasons explained below, we modify defendant’s sentence and presentence custody credits and affirm the judgment as modified.

I

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. August 28, 2012 Burglary Offense — Count 5

In August 2012, Alma Acosta lived across the street from Maria Perez on California Avenue in Riverside. On the morning of August 28, 2012, Acosta observed three males standing in front of Perez’s home with a box of beer. She also noticed that Perez’s car was not in her driveway where it is usually parked.

*224 Perez had left her home to take her daughters to school. When she returned home around 7:45 a.m., she saw a man, identified as Aaron Romero, leaving her home carrying a plasma television. Perez followed Romero and called the police. Police officers arrived and took Romero into custody. Perez showed the police officers a beer can and a footprint in her backyard that had not been there prior to the burglary. After examining her home, Perez discovered $2,000 in cash, jewelry, a laptop computer, and other electronics were missing from her home.

That same morning, Perez’s neighbors, a 12-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister, observed defendant holding a laptop bag jump over a fence into their backyard. Defendant asked the boy if he could jump the fence again, and the boy responded “Go for it.” Defendant then jumped the fence and went onto the street.

In connection with the burglary, officers investigated a suspicious Cadillac in the area. The officers ran the vehicle’s license plate and discovered that defendant owned the Cadillac. An officer later observed a pair of shoes in defendant’s closet that matched footprints found at Perez’s home. Detectives also found Perez’s husband’s driver’s license in defendant’s trash.

B. September 12, 2012 Robbery and Burglary Offenses — Counts 1 & 3

In September 2012, then 86-year-old Verna Senger lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Richard Hengstebeck, on Eileen Way in Riverside. 3 Around 9:00 a.m. on September 12, 2012, Senger was alone and asleep in her bedroom. She later awoke on the hallway floor with her nose bleeding and her nightgown “full of blood.” Her face was bruised and swollen, and one of her eyes was swollen shut. She had injuries on her face she did not previously have. Senger could not move, and had no memory of the period between when she went to sleep and when she awoke bleeding or how she had sustained her injuries. A walker Senger used for mobility was lying on the floor in the hallway. She had no prior memory loss; her health was fair when she went to sleep, and she had not previously walked around the house and fallen, though she had slid off a couch once.

At some point, Senger observed an unknown Hispanic male wearing a baseball cap stealing items from her home. The male asked her if she had any money or guns in the home. Senger responded, “no.” Senger’s son-in-law, Hengstebeck, returned home around 11:15 a.m. and as Hengstebeck was unlocking the front door, the male ran out through the master bedroom *225 window, breaking the window screen. Hengstebeck saw Senger sitting up in the hallway injured but coherent, and called 911. Hengstebeck noticed the house was in disarray and the dresser drawers in Senger’s bedroom had been ransacked.

Riverside Police Officers Christian Franco and George Anderson responded to the home. The officers found Senger “slumped down” and bloody on the floor in the hallway, and her face was bruised and swollen. When Officer Anderson later interviewed Senger at the hospital, Senger had severe bruising on her face and swelling on her mouth and cheek. Senger spent six days in the hospital and suffered bilateral nasal fractures, a left subdural hematoma (a blood clot between the layers of tissues surrounding the brain), and hemorrhaging in her eye. Dr. Peter Wawro, a trauma surgeon, explained that Senger’s injuries were likely caused from a strike to her eye, causing a significant amount of “blow” to her cheek. He ruled out the possibility of a spontaneous fracture because “spontaneous fractures, in the absence of cancer, have not really been reported.” Although Dr. Wawro admitted that people in Senger’s age range do fall and have significant trauma, he opined that Senger’s injuries were consistent with the infliction of blunt force trauma to the face, possibly two separate impacts, when falling onto a carpeted floor. Dr. Wawro was unsure whether she had suffered one single injury or several injuries or where she was actually struck on the skull.

Further investigation revealed the presence of shoe prints displaying the letters “DC” outside the master bedroom window. These shoe prints matched the shoe print at the August 28, 2012 burglary, and a pair of “DC” shoes was found in defendant’s closet in connection with the investigation of the August 28, 2012 burglary. Police officers also later discovered that defendant sold a gold memorabilia coin belonging to Senger’s son-in-law to a Cash for Gold store. A store surveillance video of defendant’s transaction at the Cash for Gold store was played for the jury.

C. September 12, 2012 Burglary Offense — Count 4

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on September 12, 2012, Shaun Sapungan left her home on Canterbury Road. When she returned about 1:40 p.m., she found a bicycle propped up against her front door blocking her entry. As she entered her home, she noticed that her couch cushions had been torn, and her entire home was in disarray. Sapungan’s jewelry had been stolen, including her engagement ring, as well as two digital cameras and an iPad. Sapungan also found a Blockbuster video card in the name of Senger’s daughter in her home. Senger and her daughter and son-in-law were Sapungan’s neighbors. Sapungan also found a pair of gray “DC” shoes that did not belong to anyone living in her home hidden outside near the gate of her house.

*226

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
239 Cal. App. 4th 220, 190 Cal. Rptr. 3d 787, 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cardenas-calctapp-2015.