People v. Schwartz CA4/1

California Court of Appeal·Decided April 26, 2016·No. D067817·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 4/26/16 P. v. Schwartz CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D067817 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD254486)

GREGORY PHILLIP SCHWARTZ, Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Louis R. Hanoian, Judge. Affirmed in part; reversed in part and remanded with directions.

Steven S. Lubliner, 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, A. Natasha Cortina and Kelley A. Johnson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

I.

INTRODUCTION

The People charged Gregory Phillip Schwartz with assault with intent to commit rape (Pen. Code, § 220, subd. (a)(1))1 (count 1); false imprisonment by violence (§§ 236, 237, subd. (a)) (count 2); assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(4)) (count 3); and shoplifting (§ 459.5) (count 4). A jury found Schwartz not guilty on count 1, but guilty of the lesser included offense of assault (§ 240); guilty of false imprisonment by violence on count 2; not guilty on count 3, but guilty of the lesser included offense of assault (§ 240); and guilty of shoplifting on count 4.

The trial court sentenced Schwartz to county jail for 180 days on count 4, which the court deemed satisfied by time served. On count 2, the court sentenced Schwartz to the upper term of three years in county jail pursuant to section 1170, subdivision (h), to be served consecutively to the sentence imposed on count 4. The trial court imposed six- month sentences on both counts 1 and 3, but stayed execution of the sentences pursuant to section 654. The court imposed a restitution fine pursuant to former section 1202.42 in the amount of $2,400, and a supervision revocation fine pursuant to section 1202.45 in the same amount. In addition, three days after sentencing, the court issued a protective

1 Unless otherwise specified, all subsequent statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 (Stats. 2012, ch. 762, § 1.) Section 1202.4 is similar in all material respects with former section 1202.4.

order pursuant to section 136.2 precluding Schwartz from having contact with the victim for a period of three years from the date of sentencing.3 On appeal, Schwartz claims that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the trial court's imposition of a restitution fine pursuant to section 1202.4, on the ground that the fine was improperly calculated. We conclude that Schwartz failed to establish that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the amount of the fine because the fine was within the authorized statutory range and there is nothing in the record demonstrating that the trial court erred in the manner in which it calculated the fine. Schwartz also claims that the trial court erred in imposing a $2,400 supervision revocation fine and a postjudgment protective order pursuant to section 136.2. The People concede that both the supervision revocation fine and the protective order are unauthorized and should be stricken. We agree and order the supervision revocation fine and the protective order stricken.

II.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND4

Schwartz shoplifted property from a store and assaulted a woman in a bathroom stall of the store.

3 The court had issued a nearly identical protective order on the date of sentencing, but the expiration date on the order was incorrect. 4 We provide an abbreviated summary of the facts related to Schwartz's convictions because the underlying facts are not relevant to the claims asserted on appeal.

III.

DISCUSSION

A. Schwartz cannot establish in this direct appeal that his counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the court's imposition of a restitution fine in the amount of $2,400

Schwartz claims that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the court's imposition of a restitution fine in the amount of $2,400. Schwartz argues that the trial court "clearly attempted" to apply the formula for calculating such fines specified in former section 1202.4, subdivision (b)(2), but that the court improperly included his misdemeanor convictions in counts 1, 3, and 4 in performing such calculation. We conclude that because the fine was within the authorized statutory range and there is nothing in the record demonstrating that the trial court attempted to utilize the formula specified in former section 1202.4, subdivision (b)(2), Schwartz cannot establish that his counsel was ineffective in failing to raise an objection to the amount of the fine.

1. Governing law a. Former section 1202.4 Former section 1202.4 provides in relevant part:

"(b) In every case where a person is convicted of a crime, the court shall impose a separate and additional restitution fine, unless it finds compelling and extraordinary reasons for not doing so, and states those reasons on the record.

"(1) The restitution fine shall be set at the discretion of the court and commensurate with the seriousness of the offense, but shall not be less . . . three hundred dollars ($300) starting on January 1, 2014, and not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), if the person is

convicted of a felony, and shall not be less than . . . one hundred fifty dollars ($150) starting on January 1, 2014, and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), if the person is convicted of a misdemeanor.

"(2) In setting a felony restitution fine, the court may determine the amount of the fine as the product of the minimum fine pursuant to paragraph (1) multiplied by the number of years of imprisonment the defendant is ordered to serve, multiplied by the number of felony counts of which the defendant is convicted."

b. Ineffective assistance of counsel To establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must show that counsel's performance was deficient in that it "fell below an objective standard of reasonableness," evaluated "under prevailing professional norms." (Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 688 (Strickland); accord, People v. Ledesma (1987) 43 Cal.3d 171, 216 (Ledesma).) "When examining an ineffective assistance claim, a reviewing court defers to counsel's reasonable tactical decisions, and there is a presumption counsel acted within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance." (People v. Mai (2013) 57 Cal.4th 986, 1009.) Thus, "[w]hen the record on direct appeal sheds no light on why counsel failed to act in the manner challenged, defendant must show that there was ' " 'no conceivable tactical purpose' " for counsel's act or omission.' " (People v. Centeno (2014) 60 Cal.4th 659, 675.) In addition, "[c]ounsel is not ineffective for failing to raise futile objections." (People v. Ramirez (2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 992, 1002 (Ramirez).)

If counsel's performance has been shown to be deficient, the defendant is entitled to relief only if he can also establish that he was prejudiced by counsel's ineffectiveness.

(Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at pp. 691-692; accord, Ledesma, supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 217.)

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