People v. Kerestesy CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 10, 2013
DocketC072756
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Kerestesy CA3 (People v. Kerestesy CA3) 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. Kerestesy CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Filed 12/10/13 P. v. Kerestesy CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Tehama) ----

THE PEOPLE, C072756

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. NCR81252)

v.

XAVIER ALEXANDER KERESTESY,

Defendant and Appellant.

This is an appeal pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). On June 4, 2007, the victim reported that defendant Xavier Alexander Kerestesy sexually abused her three years earlier when she was nine or 10 years of age. One incident occurred in the victim’s home. Defendant pulled down her pants and tried to insert his penis into her vagina. The second incident occurred in an orchard. Defendant put his penis in her vagina. Defendant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to two counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14 years (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and admitted that the

1 prosecution was commenced prior to the victim’s 28th birthday (Pen. Code, § 801.1, subd. (a)) in exchange for a stipulated sentence of five years (the low term of three years for count I and one-third the midterm, or two years, for count II). The court sentenced defendant accordingly. The court denied defendant’s request that his sentence run concurrently with the sentence he was serving on Oregon convictions. Defendant appeals. He did not seek a certificate of probable cause. (Pen. Code, § 1237.5.) We appointed counsel to represent defendant on appeal. Counsel filed an opening brief that sets forth the facts of the case and requests this court to review the record and determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. (Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d 436.) Defendant was advised by counsel of the right to file a supplemental brief within 30 days of the date of filing of the opening brief. Defendant filed a supplemental brief. Defendant attaches several documents to his supplemental brief. With respect to the documents that he represents are from Oregon and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), none of these documents appear in the record on appeal filed in the case before this court, and defendant has not asked us to take judicial notice of these documents. Defendant did not submit the documents to the trial court. “ ‘Reviewing courts generally do not take judicial notice of evidence not presented to the trial court’ absent exceptional circumstances. [Citation.] ‘It is an elementary rule of appellate procedure that, when reviewing the correctness of a trial court’s judgment, an appellate court will consider only matters which were part of the record at the time the judgment was entered. [Citation.] This rule preserves an orderly system of [litigation] by preventing litigants from circumventing the normal sequence of litigation.’ [Citation.] No exceptional circumstances appear that would justify deviating from this general rule in the present case, particularly in the absence of a request for judicial notice by [defendant]. [Citation.] Moreover, to take judicial notice of

2 additional records at this stage of the litigation would deprive the [People] of any opportunity to respond, either by offering additional evidence or by tailoring their arguments to address these new facts. Therefore, we rely solely upon the evidence that was presented to and considered by the trial court.” (Haworth v. Superior Court (2010) 50 Cal.4th 372, 379, fn. 2; see also Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.204 (a)(2)(C) & (e)(2)(C).) Defendant contends his Oregon attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to submit a copy of a psychosexual evaluation to Tehama County in order to reach a global resolution of the Oregon charges and the Tehama County charges. We have no jurisdiction to consider the Oregon case or the performance of counsel who represented defendant in Oregon. Defendant raises several issues related to his plea and the proceedings prior to the sentencing hearing. “[A] guilty plea constitutes an admission of every element of the offense charged and constitutes a conclusive admission of guilt. [Citation.] It waives a trial and obviates the need for the prosecution to come forward with any evidence. [Citations.] A guilty plea thus concedes that the prosecution possesses legally admissible evidence sufficient to prove defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, a plea of guilty waives any right to raise questions regarding the evidence, including its sufficiency or admissibility, and this is true whether or not the subsequent claim of evidentiary error is founded on constitutional violations. . . . [¶] A guilty plea also waives any irregularity in the proceedings which would not preclude a conviction. [Citation.] Thus irregularities which could be cured, or which would not preclude subsequent proceedings to establish guilt, are waived and may not be asserted on appeal after a guilty plea. [Citation.] In other words, by pleading guilty the defendant admits that he did that which he is accused of doing and he thereby obviates the procedural necessity of establishing that he committed the crime charged. In short, a guilty plea ‘admits all matters essential to the conviction.’ ” (People v. Turner (1985) 171 Cal.App.3d 116, 125-126 (Turner).) “[W]hen the grounds relate to the legality of the

3 proceedings but do not challenge the guilt of the defendant or the prosecutor’s ability to convict him, those grounds may be urged on appeal under a certificate of probable cause.” (Id. at p. 127.) Here, defendant claims his waiver of his speedy trial request was made under duress. A defendant’s speedy trial claim necessitates an assessment of the underlying facts, but a guilty plea admits the elements of the offense so his claim is not cognizable on appeal. (Turner, supra, 171 Cal.App.3d at p. 128.) Defendant argues that when he entered his plea, he was erroneously advised that the mandatory parole period is three years. He explains that he received notification from DCR that his parole term is five years for his offense. Defendant is attacking the validity of his plea, which he cannot do absent a certificate of probable cause. (Turner, supra, 171 Cal.App.3d at pp. 127-128, fn. 8.) In any event, assuming without considering whether the parole term changed subsequent to his plea, defendant’s “plea bargain is ‘deemed to incorporate and contemplate not only the existing law but the reserve power of the state to amend the law or enact additional laws for the public good and in pursuance of public policy. . . .’ [Citation.] The plea bargain ‘vest[ed] no rights other than those which relate[d] to the immediate disposition of the case.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Gipson (2004) 117 Cal.App.4th 1065, 1070, cited with approval in Doe v. Harris (2013) 57 Cal.4th 64.) Defendant claims defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance in that counsel advised him that his sentence would run concurrently with his Oregon sentence, that he would receive custody credit for time served once the county received his fast and speedy trial request, and that he had a three-year parole term. Defendant complains counsel advised that he did not have grounds to withdraw his plea but counsel would address the issue at sentencing. By raising the foregoing issues, defendant is attacking the validity of his plea, which he cannot do without a certificate of probable cause. (Turner, supra, 171 Cal.App.3d at pp. 127-128, fn. 8.)

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Kerestesy CA3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-kerestesy-ca3-calctapp-2013.