People v. Gholipour CA4/1

California Court of Appeal·Decided June 29, 2016·No. D067177·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 6/29/16 P. v. Gholipour CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D067177, D068234 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD246831)

GOLNAZ GHOLIPOUR, Defendant and Appellant.

CONSOLIDATED APPEALS from a judgment and an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Charles G. Rogers, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded with directions.

John L. Staley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Scott C. Taylor and Kristen K. Chenelia, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted Golnaz Gholipour of three counts of making false or fraudulent statements regarding her physical and emotional condition in a deposition and to an evaluating physician for the purpose of obtaining workers' compensation benefits (Ins. Code, § 1871.4, subd. (a)(1); counts 1-3, 13) and seven counts of perjury in a deposition (Pen. Code,1 § 118, subd. (a), counts 4-10, 12).2 The court sentenced Gholipour to a total of six years based upon a term of five years for count 1 and a consecutive one-year term for count 13. The court split the sentence with three years to be served in local custody and three years to be served under mandatory supervision. The court imposed but stayed punishment pursuant to section 654 for counts 2 and 3 (five years each) and for counts 4 through 10 and 12 (four years each). In a separate restitution proceeding, the court made a finding of fact Gholipour's initial claim for workers' compensation in 2007 was false and awarded restitution in the amount of $309,101.05 for all temporary disability benefits, medical costs, attorney fees and investigative costs paid and incurred on behalf of her employer since 2007.

On appeal, Gholipour contends (1) counts 5 through 10 should be consolidated because the statements involved the same "material matter" for purposes of section 118; (2) there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction for count 4, involving perjury regarding her dating or relationship status; (3) two witnesses gave improper lay

1 Further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

2 The jury could not reach a verdict as to count 11 for perjury. The court subsequently granted the People's motion to dismiss this count.

opinion testimony; and (4) the restitution order should be vacated or modified because (a) the trial court improperly made a finding of fact in violation of Gholipour's constitutional rights to a jury determination, (b) Gholipour received ineffective assistance of counsel when her attorney failed to make federal objections on this basis, and (c) section 1202.4 does not permit a mandatory restitution award for economic losses based upon conduct for which she was not convicted. We agree section 1202.4 limits a restitution award to losses caused by the criminal conduct for which the defendant was convicted and does not permit an award based upon uncharged criminal conduct. As a result, we reverse the restitution award and remand for further proceedings to strike the portion of the award attributable to uncharged criminal conduct prior to July 2012. In all other respects, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

A

Gholipour worked as an internal medicine nurse at a Sharp Rees-Stealy (Sharp)

clinic in Rancho Bernardo, California from August 21, 2006, until January 8, 2007. Gholipour saw a physician in the clinic on January 8, 2007, complaining of pain and muscle spasms on the left side of her lower back for two days. She stated she awoke in pain after a nightmare two days earlier. She reported a history of scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and episodes of back pain since she was 15 years old. The doctor signed a form for disability insurance benefits stating Gholipour's disability was not the result of her occupation.

Gholipour saw a physical therapist at the same clinic on January 11, 2007, and reported she felt a pop on the left side of her lumbar spine when she awoke on January 8. She said she had experienced spasms in her lower back for about a month. She also stated she had a cold with a lot of coughing. She again reported a history of low back pain.

Gholipour applied for state disability benefits on January 16, 2007.3 She stated she stopped working due to spinal injury and muscle spasm. She was unable to walk or sit comfortably and had severe pain. She signed a statement under penalty of perjury indicating the disability was not caused by her job. Her weekly benefit allowance was determined to be $192 with a maximum benefit allowance of $4,515. Her first payment was issued on January 24, 2007. She received payments for state disability totaling $3,236.57.

On February 2, 2007, several days after her first disability payment issued, Gholipour went to see a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician. On an intake form Gholipour stated she noticed back pain on January 6 as she was getting out of bed and the injury was not work related. However, during the visit Gholipour reported a box fell on her while she was cleaning the medication room. The physician advised her to

3 State disability benefits are available to individuals who do not have a workplace injury. Benefits are determined based on how long an individual has worked and how much they made in the 18 months prior to the claim. It pays up to 55 percent of the individual's normal income for 52 weeks, if that much is available in his or her account. An individual who has not worked very long in the State of California will have fewer benefits available than someone who has worked in the state longer.

report the work injury to her supervisor. The physician testified she could have had a delayed symptom onset after the injury. In the case of a disc herniation, it can take time for inflammation to build up and it is not unusual for people to first feel symptoms in the morning. However, the physician admitted if a patient received an injury one day and woke up the next morning in pain, one might think there was a connection.

Gholipour submitted a workers' compensation claim on February 12, 2007. She stated she was injured on January 5, 2007, when she tripped and a box fell on her, injuring her back. In June 2008, Gholipour submitted an application for an amended workers' compensation claim indicating she had injuries to her hips and psyche in addition to her back. Several months later she submitted another amended claim stating she had injuries to her hips, psyche, low back, left thigh, leg, left toe, and muscle atrophy. In March 2009, she submitted another amended claim indicating her trip and fall caused injury to her back, hip, psyche, upper gastrointestinal area, constipation, lower gastrointestinal area, vaginal pain, and loss of memory.

Sharp initially accepted her claim based upon the recommendation of its workers'

compensation attorney, Craig Plummer. Plummer took Gholipour's deposition twice in connection with the workers' compensation claim, once in 2007 and again in 2012. At the time of the first deposition Plummer did not have Gholipour's prior records or her claim for state disability benefits.

B

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