People v. Madera CA4/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 18, 2022
DocketG060044
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Madera CA4/3 (People v. Madera CA4/3) 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. Madera CA4/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 7/18/22 P. v. Madera CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G060044

v. (Super. Ct. No. 06WF3312)

HERUVEY RUDY MADERA, OPI NION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Cynthia M. Herrera, Judge. Affirmed. Marcia R. Clark, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Melissa Mandel, Assistant Attorney General, Robin Urbanski and Genevieve Herbert, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * * This is an appeal from an order resentencing defendant pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.03, which permits the court to recall a defendant’s sentence upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and 1 Rehabilitation (CDCR). Defendant was initially sentenced on ten counts, including carjacking, for which he received a sentence of 15 years to life (the primary term), as well as intimidating a witness, for which he received a sentence of seven years to life, both of which were life terms as a result of a gang enhancement. On the remaining counts and enhancements, he received determinate sentences, and all sentences were run concurrent with the 15 years to life. We affirmed the judgment with some minor modifications in 2010. (See People v. Madera, G041943, May 14, 2010 [nonpub. opn.] (Madera I).) In 2016, the Secretary of the CDCR wrote to inform the court that it did not have statutory authority to run the gang and firearm enhancements concurrently, but was instead required to run them consecutively. In response, the court issued a minute order without holding a hearing, and without stating any reasons, in which it struck most of the enhancements, including the enhancements attached to the carjacking and witness intimidation counts. In 2018, the Secretary of the CDCR again wrote to the court, informing it that the life sentence for witness intimidation was no longer a lawful sentence as a result of People v. Lopez (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 1049, 1064-1065. The original sentencing judge was unavailable, so a new judge was assigned the case and appointed counsel for defendant. Defendant filed a motion to recall his sentence. In the motion, defendant pointed out an additional flaw in the sentence: having struck the enhancements, the carjacking count was also no longer eligible for a life sentence. The court resolved this issue by holding that the prior judge’s order striking the enhancements was invalid because the court had not stated its reasons in the minute

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise designated.

2 order, which is a mandatory requirement of section 1385. Having reinstated the enhancements, the court resentenced defendant to 15 years to life on the carjacking count. On the witness intimidation count, the court resentenced defendant to a determinate two years in prison. All counts were run concurrently to the carjacking sentence, resulting in an identical total sentence. Defendant appealed. Defendant raises two issues on appeal. First, he contends the court erred by invalidating the 2016 order, which had the effect of reinstating the enhancements. Second, he contends that, even if he was eligible for a life sentence, the court abused its discretion in selecting a life sentence. We find no error and affirm. We agree with the court’s conclusion that the 2016 order was invalid and of no effect due to the failure to state reasons for striking the enhancements. We further conclude that, while defendant has made impressive progress while in prison, the court’s selection of a life sentence was within its discretion.

FACTS The following facts are drawn from our prior opinion in this matter (Madera I) and our prior opinion in a codefendant’s appeal. (People v. Ramirez, G041265, June 4, 2010 [non pub. opn.].)

The First Incident (Ramirez) At 11:00 p.m., on December 9, 2006, 18-year-old Christopher Vossler, Ryan Miller, and two other friends were walking to their van to go home after attending a party in Garden Grove when a car containing defendant and two accomplices drove by the group and made a U-turn. Defendant, who was carrying a gun, got out of the car and started walking toward Vossler. Defendant yelled, “nobody move.” He walked up to Vossler and held the gun to Vossler’s forehead; Vossler could feel the gun touching his head. Defendant

3 asked Vossler “where you from?” Vossler understood defendant to be asking whether he was a gang member and told defendant he was not. Defendant continued to ask Vossler where he was from and Vossler kept responding that he was not a gang member. Defendant told Vossler to empty all the things out of his pockets and put them on the ground. Vossler complied, placing his wallet and cell phone on the ground. Miller emptied his pockets and dropped his cell phone, his keys, and $6 in his wallet to the ground. Defendant walked over to Miller, held the gun to his head and asked him if he banged and what city he was from. Miller said he did not bang and that he was from Garden Grove. Defendant told Miller to take everything out of his pockets; Miller told him that everything was already on the ground. After Vossler emptied his pockets, defendant again asked where he was from and if he bangs. Defendant then pointed the gun in the air and pulled the trigger three times and said “the next one is a bullet” and “give me all your stuff or I’m going to put it in your head.” Meanwhile, one of the accomplices tagged the nearby walls with black spray paint; he then walked up to Vossler and spray painted his shirt. Defendant said to Vossler something to the effect that if he called the police he would “fucking kill [him].”

The Second Incident (Madera I) During the night of December 24, 2006, Adam Van Dersande drove a Chrysler PT Cruiser automobile to a gas station to buy ice cream and cigarettes. As Van Dersande walked back to his car after making his purchases, defendant and an accomplice approached him and asked for a ride to their car, which they said had broken down on the 91 Freeway. Van Dersande agreed. Defendant sat in the front passenger seat and his accomplice sat in the backseat on the driver’s side. While Van Dersande drove toward the 91 Freeway, defendant asked to use his cell phone to call a tow truck. Van Dersande handed his cell phone to defendant, who

4 made a call. As they approached the 91 Freeway, the accomplice reached his arm around Van Dersande’s neck and placed Van Dersande in a chokehold. Van Dersande felt a knife pressing against his neck. Defendant told him to pull into a parking lot at a McDonald’s restaurant. Van Dersande drove into the parking lot and stopped. Defendant reached over, took the keys out of the ignition, and told Van Dersande to take everything out of his pockets. The accomplice continued to hold Van Dersande in chokehold and press a knife against his neck. Van Dersande took out his lighter, cigarettes and a wallet. After taking these items, defendant got out of the car and walked around the car to the driver’s side. As the accomplice released Van Dersande from the chokehold, defendant pulled him out of the car. Defendant told Van Dersande, “‘[g]et out of here. We’re going to kill you.’” Van Dersande ran to a truck parked nearby and told the driver he had been carjacked.

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Related

People v. Hunt
568 P.2d 376 (California Supreme Court, 1977)
In Re Renfrow
164 Cal. App. 4th 1251 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
In Re Scott
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Hamilton v. Laine
57 Cal. App. 4th 885 (California Court of Appeal, 1997)
People v. Mitchell
26 P.3d 1040 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Johnson
353 P.3d 266 (California Supreme Court, 2015)
People v. Franklin
370 P.3d 1053 (California Supreme Court, 2016)
People v. Lopez
208 Cal. App. 4th 1049 (California Court of Appeal, 2012)

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People v. Madera CA4/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-madera-ca43-calctapp-2022.