People v. Vera

18 Cal. Rptr. 3d 896, 122 Cal. App. 4th 970
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 29, 2004
DocketH026350
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 18 Cal. Rptr. 3d 896 (People v. Vera) 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. Vera, 18 Cal. Rptr. 3d 896, 122 Cal. App. 4th 970 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

18 Cal.Rptr.3d 896 (2004)
122 Cal.App.4th 970

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Mark Nicholas VERA, Defendant and Appellant.

No. H026350.

Court of Appeal, Sixth District.

September 29, 2004.
Review Denied December 15, 2004.

*898 Jill D. Lansing, Los Angeles, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant, Gerald A. Engler, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Eric D. Share, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Catherine A. McBrien, Deputy Attorney General, for Defendant and Appellant.

*897 WALSH, J.[*]

After entering a no contest plea to felony battery involving personal infliction of great bodily injury, defendant Mark Nicholas Vera expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of his public defender. In an initial hearing, the trial court heard defendant state several complaints, but ultimately ran out of time because a jury was arriving on another case. Based on defendant's stated complaints, the court denied defendant's request for substitute counsel without prejudice, but the court invited defendant to renew his motion at the next hearing. Defendant did not renew his motion. We will affirm the judgment after concluding, among other things, that defendant's failure to renew his motion bars the contention that he was denied a complete hearing.

THE OFFENSE

On December 16, 2000, 68-year-old Vincent Breon was assisting at a gas station in Cupertino. Defendant entered the convenience store part of the gas station, grabbed a handful of candy, and offered 15 cents. He seemed to be under the influence of something. Breon told him the candy was worth more and he took candy back from defendant. Defendant left the store. Defendant returned about 10 minutes later, grabbed a handful of candy bars, and put them in his pocket. When Breon told defendant to put them back and leave, defendant complied.

Later, when Breon went out to his car, defendant rushed at him from behind a dumpster and punched him in the left temple, knocking off his glasses. Breon fell to the ground and defendant kicked him several times in the neck and shoulder. Breon lost consciousness. When Breon came to, defendant was gone. Breon's left wrist was bruised, his left eye was swollen, and his vision was blurry. Breon discovered the day after the attack that $120 in cash was missing from his pants pocket.

Within an hour of the incident, Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriff Jason Brown took defendant into custody after finding him sleeping in some bushes about two blocks from the gas station. Defendant appeared to be intoxicated by alcohol. He resisted arrest and struggled to get out of the patrol car. A booking inventory revealed no money in his possession.

CHARGES AND PLEA

Following a preliminary examination on June 13, 2001, at which Breon and Deputy Brown testified, defendant was held to answer on the charges reflected in the information filed on June 22, 2001. The information charged defendant with assaulting Breon with force likely to produce great bodily injury (count 2 — Pen.Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)),[1] with abusing an elder adult *899 under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm (count 3 — § 368, subd. (b)(1)), and with personally inflicting serious bodily injury by battery (count 1 — §§ 242-243, 12022.7, subd. (a)). The information also alleged that defendant had two prior serious felony convictions, one for armed assault and the other for first degree burglary, that were brought and tried separately.

On December 5, 2001, the following negotiated plea was announced. Defendant would plead no contest to battery and would admit inflicting great bodily injury and having two "strike" priors. The People agreed to request dismissal of the remaining counts at sentencing. Defendant would ask the court to dismiss the strike priors under People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497, 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 789, 917 P.2d 628 (Romero). If the court denied the Romero motion, the People would request dismissal of the "Prop. 8 priors" (five-year enhancements for serious felony convictions under § 667, subd. (a)). If the court granted the Romero motion, the Proposition 8 priors would remain in place.

Defendant was advised of the rights waived by such a plea. He was advised that he was facing a potential sentence under the "Three Strikes" statutes of 25 years to life and 10 more years if the serious felony allegations were not stricken. After receiving this advice, defendant entered a no contest plea to felony battery and also admitted that he personally inflicted great bodily injury during the battery. Defendant also admitted that he has two prior serious felony convictions, one for armed assault and the other for first degree burglary.

The next hearing was set for January 2, 2002. That hearing was continued three times until April 10, 2002.

MARSDEN HEARING

On April 10, 2002, defendant appeared with his attorney from the Office of the Public Defender. In the absence of the prosecutor, counsel informed the court that defendant would like to make a People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118, 84 Cal. Rptr. 156, 465 P.2d 44 (Marsden) motion.

The court asked defendant why he was dissatisfied with his attorney. Defendant said, "I have several issues. Please forgive me. I'm a little bit nervous." He stated that he had written a few things down.

Defendant's first concern was that one of his prior strikes was actually a 1990 or 1991 second degree burglary that was changed to first degree "for the sake of a deal." Defendant claimed that his counsel did not investigate this and told him there was nothing she could do about it. The court pointed out that counsel was going to be asking the court to strike the strike under Romero. The court stated, "I'll put the matter over then for —"

Defendant stated, "Well, Your Honor, I'm still not finished, sir." The court responded, "Go ahead."

Defendant questioned counsel's investigation into the victim's injuries, saying that the victim's abrasion may have resulted from the fall and not defendant's blow. The court said, "Go on."

Defendant questioned the victim's testimony that he was robbed, saying that defendant was found with no money on him. Defense counsel had refused to subpoena the victim's bank records to see if *900 he had gone to the bank the day of the attack as he had testified.

Defendant questioned whether the victim had permanent vision loss. "I never ran up and hit him." Defendant had not seen a doctor's report confirming the vision loss or evidence of damage to the victim's glasses. The court pointed out that defendant was talking about the evidence in the case, and asked, "Beyond that, what else do you have?"

Defendant said that his attorney breached a promise to talk to him in jail before he was interviewed by the probation officer. There were errors in the probation report, including a statement that defendant was not remorseful. The court established that defendant had told his attorney about the errors and stated, "Go on."

Defendant apologized for going back to evidence gathering. Defendant asserted that his attorney had failed to speak with defendant's sister about his mental condition at the time of the attack.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 Cal. Rptr. 3d 896, 122 Cal. App. 4th 970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vera-calctapp-2004.