People v. Correa

74 Cal. Rptr. 3d 446, 161 Cal. App. 4th 980, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 486
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 4, 2008
DocketC054365
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 74 Cal. Rptr. 3d 446 (People v. Correa) 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. Correa, 74 Cal. Rptr. 3d 446, 161 Cal. App. 4th 980, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 486 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

74 Cal.Rptr.3d 446 (2008)
161 Cal.App.4th 980

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Victor CORREA, Defendant and Appellant.

No. C054365.

Court of Appeal of California, Third District.

April 4, 2008.

*447 Conrad Petermann, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, Beverly Hills, for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Charles A. French, Supervising Deputy Attorney *448 General, Robert C, Nash, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Certified for Partial Publication.[*]

BUTZ, J.

A jury found defendant Victor Correa guilty of seven counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm (Pen.Code, § 12021, subd. (a)(1))[1] and one count of receiving stolen property (§ 496d, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced him to an aggregate term of 200 years to life.

Defendant appeals, contending that (1) six of the seven sentence terms for firearm possession must be stayed pursuant to section 654, and (2) the sentence of multiple, consecutive life terms without the requisite jury findings violated his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights under Cunningham v. California (2007) 549 U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 856, 166 L.Ed.2d 856 (Cunningham), Blakely v. Washington (2004) 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (Blakely), and Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, 147 L.Ed.2d 435, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (Apprendi). We shall order the abstract amended but otherwise affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Prosecution's Case

On February 4, 2006, Sacramento Police Officer Kevin Howland was dispatched to a two-story residence at 60 Tundra Way at approximately 5:07 p.m. in response to a report of firearms being moved into the house. Two cars were parked in the driveway—a black Mustang and a silver Nissan. A third car, a green Lexus, was parked nearby on the street. The drivers of the Lexus and Mustang were observed entering the house and the garage of the residence.

Officer Howland radioed the vehicle identification number of the Lexus to dispatch and discovered that it was stolen. It was later discovered that the other two cars were also stolen. Officer Howland also identified defendant from a series of computer mug shots as the driver of the Lexus.

The driver of the Mustang and two females who had emerged from the residence were detained. Defendant barricaded himself inside the residence.

Members of the Sacramento Police Department SWAT team surrounded the residence and fired tear gas grenades into the house. The officers heard defendant's muffled voice coming from a closet under the stairs.

SWAT team member Officer William McCoin opened the closet door and heard defendant say he was stuck in the back of the closet. On the floor of the closet were numerous long gun cases containing rifles and shotguns,[2] and two shotguns without cases. Officer McCoin tore a hole in the back wall of the closet and discovered defendant lying on the ground under the stairs.

During a subsequent search of the premises, officers found a shotgun and a rifle in gun cases behind a couch in a downstairs room; a duffel bag containing 20-gauge shotgun shells in an upstairs bedroom closet; a duffel bag containing 12-gauge shotgun shells and .22-caliber rifle ammunition, as well as letters addressed to defendant, in the garage; paperwork with defendant's name in an upstairs bedroom; and a key to the Lexus and paperwork for the vehicle in an upstairs bedroom.

*449 Defendant's neighbor testified that she had seen defendant "on two or three occasions" carrying firearms while he was visiting her house or while she was visiting his home.

B. Defense Case

Defendant's mother testified that she and her husband owned the residence at 60 Tundra Way, and that defendant lived there along with her other son and his girlfriend, and her son-in-law. She stated that the Ford Mustang in the driveway belonged to her husband, that the Lexus may have belonged to her son's girlfriend who was living at the house, and that she had never seen defendant drive any of the stolen cars. She stated that she never saw any guns or gun cases in the house, and did not want guns in her home.

C. Verdict

Defendant was charged with nine counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm (Pen.Code, § 12021, subd. (a)(1)), one count of unlawful taking of a motor vehicle (Veh.Code, § 10851, subd. (a)), and three counts of receiving stolen property (Pen. Code, § 496d, subd. (a)). The jury convicted him of seven counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and guilty of one count of receiving stolen property. By its verdict, the jury determined that defendant possessed all the guns found in the closet, but not the two guns discovered in the downstairs room.

D. Sentencing

Defendant waived jury trial on three prior felony conviction allegations, and the prosecution dismissed one prior felony conviction allegation. The trial court found defendant had been convicted of two prior felonies within the meaning of sections 667, subdivision (b) through (i), and 1170.12, which qualified him for life sentencing under the three strikes law (§ 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)(A)(ii)). The court sentenced defendant to seven consecutive terms of 25 years to life on each count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and an additional consecutive term of 25 years to life for receiving stolen property. Defendant's aggregate sentence was therefore comprised of eight consecutive terms of 25 years to life.

DISCUSSION

I. Section 654

Defendant asserts that the sentences for six of the seven firearm possession offenses[3] "arose from a single incident in which he was found with seven firearms stacked on the floor in a below stairs closet near his feet." Defendant contends the sentences on all firearm offenses but one must be stayed pursuant to section 654 "because they were part of an indivisible transaction." (Ibid.) In rejecting a similar argument by defendant's trial counsel, the trial court stated:

"They are individual, in the Court's view, separate crimes. So the only time a Court stays a sentence is if it qualifies under Penal Code Section 654, and then the Court would impose the sentence but stay it. In this case, I'm finding that each one of these is a separate and individual offense with a separate and individual purpose and, therefore, I'm not finding [section] *450 654. And, frankly, where that might apply and the only place I think it would apply in this case, if it did at all, would be Counts [two] through [seven] because that was—I guess you'd call it, a cache, c-a-c-he, of weapons and so Counts [two] through [seven] are each an individual weapon and—but the Court is finding that each of those is an individual and separate weapon, each had its own ammunition, and in the Court's view, there would be a different purpose and a different crime for each of those individual weapons and that's how the Court is addressing it. Not to say that you might want to make a [section] 654 argument as to Counts [two] through [seven], but my tentative ruling is, I'm not doing that. Or, my tentative sentence, rather, is that I am not.

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Related

People v. Correa
278 P.3d 809 (California Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
74 Cal. Rptr. 3d 446, 161 Cal. App. 4th 980, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-correa-calctapp-2008.