People v. Oh CA4/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 4, 2016
DocketG051291
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Oh CA4/3 (People v. Oh 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. Oh CA4/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed 10/4/16 P. v. Oh 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, G051291

v. (Super. Ct. No. 12CF1632)

SANGJIN MILLER OH, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, John S. Adams, Judge. Affirmed. Mark S. Devore for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Brendon W. Marshall and Christopher Beesley , Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. A jury convicted Sangjin Miller Oh of five counts of perjury (Pen. Code, § 118, subd. (a); all further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated), and found true an allegation the statute of limitations commenced in December 2010. The court suspended execution of sentence and placed defendant on formal probation for three years. Defendant argues the court erroneously denied his (1) motion to suppress evidence (§ 1538.5), (2) motion to dismiss charges for outrageous government conduct, (3) motion for a judgment of acquittal (§ 1118.1) on the statute of limitations, and (4) his request for a defense pinpoint instruction on the statute of limitations. He also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support some counts. We affirm the judgment. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Defendant is a former mayor, and city councilmember, for the City of Buena Park. In October 2010, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office received election-related complaints about defendant. The case was assigned to Investigator Stanley Berry. During the course of Berry’s investigation, he discovered evidence suggesting defendant had two California driver’s licenses. In December, Berry contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and asked one of their investigators, Francisco Paredes, for information. Paredes did some research and discovered the driver’s license numbers Berry identified were linked to individuals with similar names, but different social security numbers. He decided to investigate whether one, or both, of the driver’s licenses had been the subject of identity theft. In January 2011, Paredes asked defendant to come to the DMV office in Irvine for an interview. Defendant brought some documents with him showing his name, Sangjin Miller Oh, or Sang J. Oh, his date of birth (January 1964), and a social security number beginning with 602.

2 Paredes showed defendant another driver’s license with the name Robert S. Oh, a date of birth in December 1957, and a social security number starting with 612. After being confronted with this information, defendant admitted he applied for a second license using his catholic confirmation name and his lunar birthday to avoid paying child support. Paredes had defendant write a two-page confession, and he forwarded defendant’s confession and a report to Berry in August 2011. In the meantime, Paredes contacted Yolanda Campos, an investigator with the Social Security Administration (SSA). Campos gave Paredes reports pertaining to both of the SSA numbers linked to defendant, and Paredes passed this information on to Berry. In May 2012, Berry, Paredes, and Campos interviewed defendant. Defendant told them he came to the United States in 1989 on an investor visa. He became a lawful permanent resident in 2002, and a naturalized United States citizen in 2009. Defendant said his true name is Sangjin Miller Oh, he was born in January 1964, and his social security number begins with 602. Defendant explained that Robert was his catholic confirmation name, but he denied December 1957 was his lunar birthday. Defendant, again, admitted he had two driver’s licenses. He initially denied any knowledge of the 612 social security number. Later, defendant admitted hiring someone to apply for a new social security number and driver’s license on his behalf because his bank accounts were frozen for nonpayment of child support. Defendant also admitted using his second driver’s license number to register three vehicles, and he admitted knowing the information he used in the second driver’s license application, and the vehicle registrations, had been false. After a preliminary hearing, the district attorney filed an information alleging defendant committed perjury on July 20, 2009, by failing to disclose a driver’s license suspension in an application (count 1), on January 12, 2005, December 29, 2007, and March 20, 2008, when he applied for vehicle registration using the second driver’s

3 license number (counts 2, 3, 4), and on September 23, 2004, by not disclosing the existence of his first driver’s license number on the application for the second license (count 5). With regard to the statute of limitations, the amended information alleged the DMV did not have actual or constructive knowledge of defendant’s crimes until December 2010 when Berry contacted Paredes. Because the DMV computer searches by name, date of birth, and social security number, and its computer system does not have facial or fingerprint recognition software, defendant’s use of different biological information made it impossible for the DMV to detect. At trial, Paredes testified the DMV first issued a driver’s license to defendant in the name Miller Jin Oh with a birthdate in January 1964 and a social security number beginning with 602. Defendant’s photograph, fingerprints, and signature were obtained at the time of application. Defendant received at least six physical replacement licenses over the next 16 years, and he changed the name on the license at least three times. In November 1997, defendant applied for a second driver’s license using the name Robert S. Oh with a date of birth in December 1957 and a social security number beginning with 612. Again, defendant’s photograph, fingerprints, and signature were obtained at the time of application. He changed the name on the license to Sangjin Oh in 1999. He received at least four physical replacement licenses over the next eight years for his second driver’s license. Paredes also testified that on January 12, 2005, December 29, 2007, and March 20, 2008, defendant used the second driver’s license to register vehicles. To complete the vehicle registration forms, defendant signed the form, which “certify[ied] under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the information entered on this form is true and correct.”

4 Paredes explained the DMV computer system is not equipped with facial or fingerprint recognition software, nor does it have the ability to cross-reference driver’s license applications. The computer system will flag identical names and social security numbers, but the system does not alert with similar names or addresses, even if the name is associated with a previously issued driver’s license. The DMV simply had no mechanism to discover individual applicants filing for multiple licenses if, like defendant, they used different birthdates, names, and social security numbers. Thus, according to Paredes, the DMV had no actual knowledge defendant had been issued two driver’s licenses until Berry contacted him in December 2010. On cross-examination, Paredes acknowledged that DMV records indicated, defendant waited five years to receive a physical replacement for his first driver’s license after he applied for his second license.

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People v. Oh CA4/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-oh-ca43-calctapp-2016.