People v. Vournazos

198 Cal. App. 3d 948, 244 Cal. Rptr. 82, 1988 Cal. App. LEXIS 141
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 19, 1988
DocketB020977
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 198 Cal. App. 3d 948 (People v. Vournazos) 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. Vournazos, 198 Cal. App. 3d 948, 244 Cal. Rptr. 82, 1988 Cal. App. LEXIS 141 (Cal. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Opinion

LILLIE, P. J.

Defendant appeals from judgment (order granting probation) entered after his negotiated plea of nolo contendere to the unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)) and to receiving stolen property (Pen. Code, § 496).

Facts

On August 5, 1985, Craig Wright parked and locked his 1981 Mercedes Benz automobile in the garage at his residence. 1 The following morning he discovered the car was missing. On August 7, 1985, at 12:30 a.m. while on patrol, Officer Holbrook saw a Mercedes Benz double parked. Holbrook noticed the car had no rear license plate and ascertained that it was stolen. He walked over to the car and found defendant in the driver’s seat. Defendant told him that a man named Schwartz, whom he met on Hollywood Boulevard, gave him permission to drive the car; he did not know Schwartz’s address, telephone number, or how to get in touch with him. From a computer check Holbrook learned that the car belonged to Wright. Holbrook arrested defendant and searched the car. In the front console immediately to the right of the driver’s seat he found blank checks, credit cards and identification cards. Some of these items belonged to one Dale Condra and were stolen from his Mazda automobile in July 1985. When Wright parked and locked the Mercedes he left in it his briefcase containing a solid gold key. The car and the key were returned to Wright on August 7, *952 1985. Wright did not claim as his any of the checks and cards Holbrook found in the Mercedes.

By amended information defendant was charged in count I, with theft of the Mercedes, a felony (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. 3); count II, with driving and taking the Mercedes without Wright’s consent and with intent to deprive him of title and possession of said vehicle, a felony (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)); count III, with burglary, a felony, committed by entering Dale Condra’s Mazda automobile, its doors being locked, with intent to commit larceny (Pen. Code, § 459); and count IV, with receiving stolen property consisting of checks and credit cards, a felony (Pen. Code, § 496). Defendant pleaded not guilty to each count. On March 5, 1986, pursuant to a plea bargain defendant withdrew his plea of not guilty to counts II and IV and pleaded nolo contendere to those counts. Based on a probation report, proceedings were suspended and defendant was placed on probation for four years on certain conditions, among others, that he spend the first year in jail and make restitution to the victims of his crimes through the probation officer in such amount and manner as the latter prescribed. At the conclusion the proceedings of March 5, 1986, the court set the matter for a supplemental hearing stating: “If there is any problem with regard to the court’s conditions, I would ask you to communicate those to the probation department and the court will consider a modification at the time we handle the supplemental hearing. Is that acceptable?” and defendant responded, “Yes, sir.”

On October 24, 1986, the supplemental probation hearing took place. The court considered a supplemental probation report to which was attached a statement of loss signed by Craig Wright and submitted by him to the probation department. In the statement Wright listed damage to the Mercedes, loss of certain articles of personal property and loss of wages, for a total of $2,180, as his losses 2 resulting from defendant’s violation of Vehicle Code section 10851, subdivision (a). Richard Stickney, defendant’s supervising probation officer, testified that he determined defendant should pay Wright restitution of $2,180 based on Wright’s statement of loss and his *953 discussions with Wright. On cross-examination Stickney testified that he asked Wright’s bookkeeper to send him documented proof of the losses claimed, but he did not receive such proof. No other witness testified. The court fixed $2,180 as the amount of restitution due Wright and ordered defendant to pay that sum to Wright in such manner as prescribed by his probation officer.

Defendant appeals from the judgment granting probation.

Discussion

I

An order granting probation is deemed to be a final judgment for the limited purpose of taking an appeal therefrom. (Pen. Code, § 1237, subd. (a); People v. Duncan (1986) 42 Cal.3d 91, 97 [227 Cal.Rptr. 654, 720 P.2d 2].) On appeal from such a judgment the defendant who accepts probation may seek relief from the restraint of any allegedly invalid condition of probation. (In re Bushman (1970) 1 Cal.3d 767, 776 [83 Cal.Rptr. 375, 463 P.2d 727].) On this appeal defendant challenges not only the validity of restitution as a condition of probation, but also the amount of restitution he was ordered to pay and his ability to pay. The order fixing the amount of restitution and directing defendant to pay it was made October 24, 1986, more than seven months after entry of the judgment granting probation and filing of defendant’s notice of appeal from the judgment. On defendant’s motion the record on appeal was augmented to include the proceedings of October 24, 1986. “Matters occurring after entry of judgment are ordinarily not reviewable: The appeal reviews the correctness of the judgment or order as of the time of its rendition, leaving later developments to be handled in subsequent litigation.” (9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (3d ed. 1985) Appeal, § 252, pp. 258-259.) That rule is inapplicable in the present case.

In March 1986, when defendant was granted probation with restitution as one of the conditions thereof, the court did not fix the amount of restitution; not until October 1986 was the amount of restitution determined to be $2,180 and defendant ordered to pay that sum. Thus, the judgment in effect was not a final judgment until the details of the restitution were supplied by the order of October 24, 1986. Under these circumstances the final judgment for purposes of appeal is the judgment granting probation as supplemented by the order of October 24, 1986, and defendant’s appeal from the judgment of March 5, 1986 therefore was premature. We treat such appeal as filed immediately after the making of the order of October 24, 1986 (Cal. *954 Rules of Court, rule 31(a)), thus permitting review of the proceedings of that date.

While defendant was convicted upon a plea of nolo contendere and failed to obtain a certificate of probable cause for appeal, Penal Code section 1237.5 3 does not preclude the appeal inasmuch as defendant does not challenge the validity of the plea but asserts that errors were committed in the subsequent probation proceedings. (See People v. Kaanehe (1977) 19 Cal.3d 1, 8 [136 Cal.Rptr. 409, 559 P.2d 1028].)

We turn now to the merits of the appeal.

II

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Bluebook (online)
198 Cal. App. 3d 948, 244 Cal. Rptr. 82, 1988 Cal. App. LEXIS 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vournazos-calctapp-1988.