People v. Ortiz CA1/5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 14, 2015
DocketA139561
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Ortiz CA1/5 (People v. Ortiz CA1/5) 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. Ortiz CA1/5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 5/14/15 P. v. Ortiz CA1/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A139561 v. CHRISTOPHER LEE ORTIZ, (San Francisco City and County Super. Ct. Nos. 217471, 219077) Defendant and Appellant.

A jury convicted appellant Christopher Lee Ortiz of three counts of first degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459).1 The trial court determined Ortiz’s 1998 conviction for second degree felony “burglary of a habitation” in violation of Texas Penal Code section 30.02 (Texas burglary) qualified as a sentencing enhancing “strike” under the “Three Strikes” law (§§ 667, 667.5, 1170.12) and was a serious felony (§ 667, subd. (a)). The court sentenced Ortiz to state prison. Ortiz appeals, contending: (1) the court erred by admitting a July 9, 1997 affidavit for warrant of arrest and detention (affidavit) to establish the facts of his Texas burglary conviction; (2) without the affidavit, there was insufficient evidence the Texas burglary conviction qualified as a sentencing enhancing strike; and (3) the court erred by imposing a duplicate sentence on a burglary for which he had already been convicted and sentenced. The People urge us to correct a sentencing error and modify the abstract of judgment.

1 Unless noted, all further statutory references are to the California Penal Code. 1 We conclude the affidavit contains inadmissible hearsay and the court prejudicially erred by admitting it. Because the affidavit was the only evidence establishing the Texas burglary was a strike under California law, there is insufficient evidence supporting the enhancement finding. We reverse the strike finding and decline to remand for retrial of the strike allegation. We remand for resentencing as described below. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The facts of the offenses are not relevant to this appeal. We incorporate some procedural history from our prior opinion in People v. Ortiz (Oct. 15, 2013, A136117) [nonpub. opn.] (Ortiz I).) Ortiz I In case number 217471, the People charged Ortiz with first degree burglary of residences on Tennessee and Kansas Streets in San Francisco (§ 459), felony receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)), and misdemeanor resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)). The operative information also alleged Ortiz had suffered two prior felony convictions in Texas for which he had been imprisoned, and that one of the prior Texas convictions — the Texas burglary — qualified as a sentence enhancing strike under the Three Strikes law, and was a serious felony under section 667, subdivision (a)(1). (§§ 667, 667.5, 1170.12.) In May 2012, a jury convicted Ortiz of the Kansas Street burglary and found true the allegation the offense was first degree residential burglary. The jury found Ortiz not guilty of misdemeanor resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer and could not reach a verdict on the Tennessee Street burglary and the receiving stolen property charges. The jury found the prior conviction allegations true. The prosecution did not introduce the affidavit into evidence, but the court determined the Texas burglary conviction qualified as a strike and sentenced Ortiz to state prison. In July 2012, Ortiz appealed, claiming the evidence was insufficient to establish his Texas burglary conviction qualified as an “enhancing strike under California law” because “the element

2 of ‘habitation’ is defined differently under California than under Texas law.” (Ortiz I, supra, at p. 3.) Ortiz II In November 2012, and while the appeal in Ortiz I was pending, the People charged Ortiz with first degree burglary of a residence on Baker Street in San Francisco (case No. 219077). The People later consolidated that charge with the Tennessee Street burglary and the receiving stolen property charges from Ortiz I. The operative first amended consolidated information alleged first degree residential burglary of Tennessee Street (§ 459), receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)), and first degree residential burglary of Baker Street (§ 459). The operative information also alleged a violent felony burglary allegation in connection with the Tennessee Street burglary (§ 667.5, subd. (c)(21)) and that Ortiz suffered two prior felony convictions in Texas. Finally, the operative information alleged the Texas burglary conviction — “the crime of burglary of a habitation, a felony” — qualified as a sentence enhancing strike under the “Three Strikes” law and was a serious felony under section 667, subdivision (a)(1). (§§ 667, 667.5, subd. (b), 1170.12.) In January 2013, the jury found Ortiz guilty of the Tennessee and Baker Street burglaries and the prosecution dismissed the receiving stolen property charge. Ortiz waived jury trial on the prior conviction allegations. He urged the court to conclude the Texas burglary conviction was “not a strike under . . . section 459” because Texas Penal Code section 30.02 criminalizes the burglary of any building, but in California, first degree burglary in violation of section 459 “is only a strike when the building is inhabited.” Ortiz also argued there was no evidence he entered the building with the intent to commit a felony, as required by section 459. The People argued the Texas burglary “qualifie[d] as a ‘strike’ for purposes of California law.” At a January 2013 bench trial on the prior conviction allegations, the prosecution introduced Exhibits 1 and 2, the “Texas version[s] of a [section] 969(b) packet.” As relevant here, Exhibit 1 contained a judgment on plea of guilty before court; waiver of jury trial stating that in May 1998, Ortiz pled guilty to second degree felony “burglary of

3 a habitation” in violation of Texas Penal Code section 30.02 and was sentenced to five years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division. According to the judgment, Ortiz pled guilty “to the charge in the indictment” and the court “having heard all the evidence for the State and for the defendant, and having heard argument of counsel for both sides, is of the opinion that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate a finding of guilty beyond any reasonable doubt[.]” The prosecution also introduced Exhibit 4 — the grand jury indictment — alleging Ortiz “intentionally and knowingly enter[ed] a habitation, without the effective consent of . . . the owner thereof, and therein attempted to commit and committed theft” on July 2, 1997.2 The prosecution also offered Exhibit 3, the affidavit. The prosecutor explained the document was “an official copy . . . It’s been requested by the District Court of Travis County, Texas. It’s stamped by the Court.” The affidavit states Olga Reyes reported the following information to the “APD” on July 2, 1997: “Ms. Reyes was on her way to work when she stopped by her boyfriend’s house . . . [¶] M[s]. Reyes entered the house thru [sic] the front door and found an unknown Hispanic male in the house carrying a plastic bag. The . . . male ran out the back door of the house . . . and left the area. [¶] . . . The owner of the residence is Jaime[ ] Suarez who came home and found that clothes, a pistol, stereo equipment and other items where [sic] missing from the house. [¶] Ms. Reyes viewed a photo lineup containing the photo of . . . Ortiz and she identified him as the person she saw inside the residence belonging to Jaime Suarez. Jaime Suarez does not know . . .

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People v. Ortiz CA1/5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ortiz-ca15-calctapp-2015.