THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOSE RAFAEL CARDENAS, Defendant and Appellant.
No. E059820
Fourth Dist., Div. Two.
Aug. 5, 2015.
239 Cal. App. 4th 220
Robert L.S. Angres, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Scott Taylor and Amanda E. Casillas, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
RAMIREZ, P. J.-A jury found defendant and appellant Jose Rafael Cardenas guilty of one count of robbery (
I
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
A. August 28, 2012 Burglary Offense-Count 5
In August 2012, Alma Acosta lived across the street from Maria Perez on California Avenue in Riverside. On the morning of August 28, 2012, Acosta observed three males standing in front of Perez‘s home with a box of beer. She also noticed that Perez‘s car was not in her driveway where it is usually parked.
That same morning, Perez‘s neighbors, a 12-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister, observed defendant holding a laptop bag jump over a fence into their backyard. Defendant asked the boy if he could jump the fence again, and the boy responded “Go for it.” Defendant then jumped the fence and went onto the street.
In connection with the burglary, officers investigated a suspicious Cadillac in the area. The officers ran the vehicle‘s license plate and discovered that defendant owned the Cadillac. An officer later observed a pair of shoes in defendant‘s closet that matched footprints found at Perez‘s home. Detectives also found Perez‘s husband‘s driver‘s license in defendant‘s trash.
B. September 12, 2012 Robbery and Burglary Offenses-Counts 1 & 3
In September 2012, then 86-year-old Verna Senger lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Richard Hengstebeck, on Eileen Way in Riverside.3 Around 9:00 a.m. on September 12, 2012, Senger was alone and asleep in her bedroom. She later awoke on the hallway floor with her nose bleeding and her nightgown “full of blood.” Her face was bruised and swollen, and one of her eyes was swollen shut. She had injuries on her face she did not previously have. Senger could not move, and had no memory of the period between when she went to sleep and when she awoke bleeding or how she had sustained her injuries. A walker Senger used for mobility was lying on the floor in the hallway. She had no prior memory loss; her health was fair when she went to sleep, and she had not previously walked around the house and fallen, though she had slid off a couch once.
At some point, Senger observed an unknown Hispanic male wearing a baseball cap stealing items from her home. The male asked her if she had any money or guns in the home. Senger responded, “no.” Senger‘s son-in-law, Hengstebeck, returned home around 11:15 a.m. and as Hengstebeck was unlocking the front door, the male ran out through the master bedroom
Riverside Police Officers Christian Franco and George Anderson responded to the home. The officers found Senger “slumped down” and bloody on the floor in the hallway, and her face was bruised and swollen. When Officer Anderson later interviewed Senger at the hospital, Senger had severe bruising on her face and swelling on her mouth and cheek. Senger spent six days in the hospital and suffered bilateral nasal fractures, a left subdural hematoma (a blood clot between the layers of tissues surrounding the brain), and hemorrhaging in her eye. Dr. Peter Wawro, a trauma surgeon, explained that Senger‘s injuries were likely caused from a strike to her eye, causing a significant amount of “blow” to her cheek. He ruled out the possibility of a spontaneous fracture because “spontaneous fractures, in the absence of cancer, have not really been reported.” Although Dr. Wawro admitted that people in Senger‘s age range do fall and have significant trauma, he opined that Senger‘s injuries were consistent with the infliction of blunt force trauma to the face, possibly two separate impacts, when falling onto a carpeted floor. Dr. Wawro was unsure whether she had suffered one single injury or several injuries or where she was actually struck on the skull.
Further investigation revealed the presence of shoe prints displaying the letters “DC” outside the master bedroom window. These shoe prints matched the shoe print at the August 28, 2012 burglary, and a pair of “DC” shoes was found in defendant‘s closet in connection with the investigation of the August 28, 2012 burglary. Police officers also later discovered that defendant sold a gold memorabilia coin belonging to Senger‘s son-in-law to a Cash for Gold store. A store surveillance video of defendant‘s transaction at the Cash for Gold store was played for the jury.
C. September 12, 2012 Burglary Offense-Count 4
At approximately 7:30 a.m. on September 12, 2012, Shaun Sapungan left her home on Canterbury Road. When she returned about 1:40 p.m., she found a bicycle propped up against her front door blocking her entry. As she entered her home, she noticed that her couch cushions had been torn, and her entire home was in disarray. Sapungan‘s jewelry had been stolen, including her engagement ring, as well as two digital cameras and an iPad. Sapungan also found a Blockbuster video card in the name of Senger‘s daughter in her home. Senger and her daughter and son-in-law were Sapungan‘s neighbors. Sapungan also found a pair of gray “DC” shoes that did not belong to anyone living in her home hidden outside near the gate of her house.
Defendant had telephoned his friend Mayra Meregildo and asked her to pick him up as soon as possible on Eileen Street. Defendant owned a Cadillac but it was not mechanically reliable. Meregildo owned a gold Nissan Maxima with chrome rims. When Meregildo picked defendant up, she noticed that defendant was dressed differently than usual; he was dressed up like a baseball player and was carrying a backpack-type bag on his shoulder with a stick or bat hanging out of it. Meregildo transported defendant to a Cash for Gold store where he sold jewelry, including an engagement-style ring, electronics, which included a tablet computer, and a gold coin encased in plastic. Defendant received at least $100 from the sale. An employee at the Cash for Gold store purchased an iPad from defendant.
Defendant lived within walking distance of Senger‘s and Sapungan‘s homes. Defendant‘s fingerprints were found on the bicycle found propped up against Sapungan‘s front door and on a soda can inside the Sapungan home.
II
DISCUSSION
A. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he inflicted great bodily injury on Senger. Specifically, he argues that there was no evidence he personally inflicted the great bodily injury, because Senger could not identify how she sustained the injuries and Dr. Wawro merely speculated as to the cause of the injuries suffered by Senger. This contention lacks merit.
“In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the entire record in the light most favorable to the judgment to determine whether it discloses evidence that is reasonable, credible, and of solid value such that a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citations.]” (People v. Bolin (1998) 18 Cal.4th 297, 331 (Bolin); see Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, 319.) All conflicts in the evidence and questions of credibility are resolved in favor of the verdict, drawing every reasonable
“‘An appellate court must accept logical inferences that the [finder of fact] might have drawn from the circumstantial evidence.’ [Citation.] ‘Before the judgment of the trial court can be set aside for the insufficiency of the evidence, it must clearly appear that on no hypothesis whatever is there sufficient substantial evidence to support the verdict of the [finder of fact].’ [Citation.]” (People v. Sanghera (2006) 139 Cal.App.4th 1567, 1573 (Sanghera).) “Perhaps the most fundamental rule of appellate law is that the judgment challenged on appeal is presumed correct, and it is the appellant‘s burden to affirmatively demonstrate error. [Citation.] Thus, when a criminal defendant claims on appeal that his conviction was based on insufficient evidence of one or more of the elements of the crime of which he was convicted, we must begin with the presumption that the evidence of those elements was sufficient, and the defendant bears the burden of convincing us otherwise. To meet that burden, it is not enough for the defendant to simply contend, ‘without a statement or analysis of the evidence, . . . that the evidence is insufficient to support the judgment[] of conviction.’ [Citation.] Rather, he must affirmatively demonstrate that the evidence is insufficient.” (Ibid.)
Under
Interpreting the meaning of the term “personally inflicts” in
Case law has construed Cole and Cross to mean that “for the [great bodily injury] enhancement to apply, the defendant must be the direct, rather than proximate, cause of the victim‘s injuries.” (People v. Warwick (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 788, 793, italics omitted; see People v. Valenzuela (2010) 191 Cal.App.4th 316, 321 [“Case law establishes that proof a defendant proximately caused great bodily injury does not constitute proof the defendant personally inflicted such injury.“]; People v. Rodriguez (1999) 69 Cal.App.4th 341, 349 [“To ‘personally inflict’ injury, the actor must do more than take some direct action which proximately causes injury.“].)
Defendant‘s argument that the record contains no evidence he directly caused Senger‘s injuries misfocuses on the evidence favorable to his position. Our task in reviewing for sufficiency of the evidence, however, is to consider the evidence favorable to the jury‘s verdict. That evidence showed that before defendant‘s unlawful intrusion into her home, Senger went to sleep in fair health with no injuries to her face. When she awoke, she was severely injured, and saw defendant burglarizing her home. Senger had never suffered memory loss and had not previously fallen while walking. Senger‘s injuries were inconsistent to what would be expected had she fallen onto a carpeted floor or the result of a spontaneous bone fracture. Dr. Wawro explained that Senger‘s injuries were likely caused from a strike to her eye, causing a significant amount of blow to her cheek, and ruled out the possibility of a spontaneous fracture. Although Dr. Wawro admitted that people in Senger‘s age do fall and may suffer significant trauma, he opined that Senger‘s injuries were consistent with the infliction of blunt force trauma to the face, possibly two separate impacts. Senger suffered multiple facial bone fractures and bleeding in her brain and eye. And, prior to her son-in-law‘s arrival, defendant was alone with Senger. Circumstantial evidence supports the jury‘s finding that defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on Senger.
Defendant‘s arguments to the contrary were credibility issues to be resolved by the jury. (Autry, supra, 37 Cal.App.4th at p. 358.) And, as
B. Section 654 on Counts 1 & 3
Defendant also argues that the trial court erred in failing to stay his sentence on count 3 (burglary of Senger‘s home) pursuant to
Defendant asserts that he could not be punished for both the robbery of Senger and the burglary of the house Senger resided in because both offenses were committed with the single intent and objective of stealing items from the home. (People v. Le (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 925, 931; People v. Smith (1985) 163 Cal.App.3d 908, 912.) The People do not argue otherwise regarding defendant‘s intent, but, relying
Our Supreme Court has held that
Under the multiple victim exception, “‘even though a defendant entertains but a single principal objective during an indivisible course of conduct, he [or she] may be convicted and punished for each crime of violence committed against a different victim.’ [Citations.]” (Centers, supra, 73 Cal.App.4th at p. 99.) “The robbery of a victim at gunpoint has been held to be an act of violence such as to preclude application of section 654 in the case of multiple convictions involving multiple victims.” (Miller, supra, 18 Cal.3d at p. 886; accord, People v. Champion (1995) 9 Cal.4th 879, 934-935.) Burglary may also be treated as a crime of violence when the defendant personally used a firearm in committing the offense. (Centers, supra, 73 Cal.App.4th at p. 99.) To preclude application of section 654, however, each of the crimes must have involved at least one different victim. (Centers, supra, at p. 102; People v. Garcia (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 1756, 1784-1785; Miller, at p. 886, fn. 11.)
In Miller, supra, 18 Cal.3d 873, for example, the defendant entered a store occupied by a salesman and a security guard and took jewelry at gunpoint, shooting the guard in the process. The defendant was convicted of burglary and robbery. The Supreme Court acknowledged that the defendant “entertained but a single criminal objective-to commit a theft of the contents of the jewelry store. . . .” (Id. at p. 885.) However, the court held the defendant could be separately punished for the burglary and the robbery under the multiple victim exception.
The court reasoned that although a burglary “does not necessarily involve an act of violence against any person” (Miller, supra, 18 Cal.3d at p. 886), the burglary was a violent crime for section 654 purposes, because the jury found the defendant inflicted great bodily injury on the security guard. (Id. at p. 882.) In addition, the robbery was a violent crime against the salesman and
In Centers, supra, 73 Cal.App.4th 84, this court applied the reasoning of Miller to a case in which, unlike the present case, the defendant used a gun to enter a residence and then kidnapped one of several occupants. (Centers, at pp. 88-89, 99.) We held that although burglary “standing alone” is not a violent crime (id. at p. 99), “burglary is a violent crime for purposes of the ‘multiple victim’ exception when the jury finds that, in the commission of the burglary, the defendant personally used a firearm.” (Id. at p. 88.) We concluded that since at least one of the occupants who was a victim of the burglary was not a victim of the kidnapping, the burglary and the kidnapping were two violent crimes against two different victims. Therefore, the multiple victim exception applied, and the defendant was properly sentenced to separate terms for the burglary and the kidnapping. (Id. at pp. 101-102.)
This court in Centers explained: “the trial court‘s implied finding of multiple victims is supported by substantial evidence. Indeed, defendant does not argue otherwise. Raines was indubitably the victim of the kidnapping. Grundman was the victim (or at least a victim) of the burglary, because she lived in the home. [Citation.] Grundman also was a victim of defendant‘s menacing display of a firearm during the burglary. It could be argued that Raines, too, was a victim of the burglary and the personal firearm use. Nevertheless, there was at least one victim of the burglary and the personal firearm use who was not also a victim of the kidnapping. This was sufficient.” (Centers, supra, 73 Cal.App.4th at pp. 101-102.)
Finally, in People v. Robinson (1988) 198 Cal.App.3d 674 (Robinson), the defendant entered a motel room and assaulted the four occupants. (Id. at p. 676Robinson, at p. 678.) Though the People conceded the crimes were parts of an indivisible course of conduct, the court held the multiple victim exception applied, because the jury had found true allegations that in committing the burglary, the defendant inflicted great bodily injury on the victims. Therefore, “the burglary was a crime of violence.” (Id. at p. 681.)
Here, unlike Miller, Centers, and Robinson, there was no jury finding of great bodily injury or firearm use in the case of Hengstebeck. The record shows that defendant fled as Hengstebeck was unlocking the front door. The information included a great bodily injury allegation on the burglary count (count 3) pursuant to section 12022.7, but the allegation was as to Senger. The allegations on the robbery count (count 1) and the attendant great bodily
We did state in Centers that “[o]rdinarily, in determining whether Penal Code section 654 applies, the trial court is entitled to make any necessary factual findings not already made by the jury. [Citation.]” (Centers, supra, 73 Cal.App.4th at p. 101.) However, we made that statement in support of our holding that the trial court could properly find the burglary was committed against multiple victims, even though the identities of the victims were not alleged in the information or found by the jury. (Ibid.) We did not say or imply that a court‘s authority to make factual findings should permit it to treat an ordinarily nonviolent crime as a crime of violence by relying on a fact that, though shown by the evidence, is not stated in the information and has not been found true by the trier of fact. In Centers, that issue was not presented because, as stated, the jury found firearm use. Here, assuming Hengstebeck was present before defendant fled, he was not a victim of any violent crime. Defendant was not armed when he entered the home nor did he inflict any great bodily injury on Hengstebeck.
In addition, although the courts in Miller, Centers, and Robinson did not expressly state that an allegation and jury finding are always required, in each decision the court did expressly base its holding on the jury‘s finding of great bodily injury or gun use. (Miller, supra, 18 Cal.3d at p. 886 [“the burglary alleged, proved and found to be true is a crime of violence” against the victim (italics added)]; Centers, supra, 73 Cal.App.4th at p. 99 [burglary may be treated as a violent crime “when there is a finding that the defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of the burglary” against the victim (italics added)]; Robinson, supra, 198 Cal.App.3d at p. 681 [“[t]he crucial factor here, as in Miller, is that the information charged and the jury found, that defendant committed a violent act upon an individual in the commission of the burglary” against the victim (italics added, fn. omitted)].)
Numerous other courts have emphasized the statutory definition of a crime in determining whether the crime can be treated as a crime of violence for purposes of section 654. In People v. Hall (2000) 83 Cal.App.4th 1084 (Hall), for example, the court said that “whether a crime
Here, of course, burglary is not defined in
While we recognize that “section 654 is not a sentencing ‘enhancement’ ” (People v. Cleveland (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 263, 270; accord, Solis, supra, 90 Cal.App.4th at p. 1022), a finding that section 654 is not applicable may still have a deleterious effect on the defendant‘s sentence since he may end up serving more time than he would if section 654 were applied. It would not be prudent in light of that fact to extend the multiple victim exception to a case in which the fact that makes the exception applicable was not alleged in the information, was not submitted to the trier of fact, and did not become an issue in the case until after the conclusion of the trial.
Counts 1 (robbery) and 3 (burglary) and the attendant great bodily injury (
C. Punishment on Enhancement Allegations Attached to Count 1
Defendant further alleges that the
When
D. Presentence Custody Credits
Finally, defendant argues that the trial court miscalculated his presentence custody credits, and claims he is entitled to an additional two days of custody credits. The People agree the court miscalculated his presentence credits but claim the court awarded defendant too many credits, and that his credits should be reduced by four days.
At the October 7, 2013 sentencing hearing, the trial court awarded defendant 393 days for actual time served, plus 58 days for conduct credits pursuant to
The parties agree that under
The People, however, argue that defendant was not arrested in the instant matter until September 14, 2012, and therefore his presentence custody credits should be reduced to 447 days (389 days for actual time served plus 58 days for conduct credits). The People base this assertion on the trial court‘s comments at the sentencing hearing, citing to unrelated cases, cases
Fundamental fairness demands that such reports be founded on accurate and reliable information. (People v. Chi Ko Wong (1976) 18 Cal.3d 698, 719, overruled on other grounds in People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 33.) Thus, a party is entitled to respond to adverse information in a probation report, or information that is inaccurate, insufficient or based on unreliable information. (People v. Arbuckle (1978) 22 Cal.3d 749, 753; People v. Bloom (1983) 142 Cal.App.3d 310, 320.) Here, at the sentencing hearing when the trial court was relying on the dates in the probation report to award defendant presentence custody credits, the People made no challenge to the accuracy of the dates reported by the probation officer. Accordingly, we reject the People‘s claim that defendant is not entitled to the five days from August 28, 2012, through September 1, 2012, in calculating defendant‘s presentence custody credits.
“A sentence that fails to award legally mandated custody credit is unauthorized and may be corrected whenever discovered. [Citation.]” (People v. Taylor (2004) 119 Cal.App.4th 628, 647; see People v. Acosta (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 411, 428, fn. 8 [“The failure to award an adequate amount of credits is a jurisdictional error which may be raised at any time.“].) Based on the dates reported by the probation officer, defendant was arrested in the instant matter on August 28, 2012, released on bail on September 1, 2012, and then arrested again on September 14, 2012, and sentenced on October 7, 2013. For this period of time, he was entitled to 394 actual days of presentence custody credit, not 393 days as found by the trial court. (See People v. Morgain (2009) 177 Cal.App.4th 454, 469 [“defendant is entitled to credit for the date of his arrest and the date of sentencing“]; People v. Browning (1991) 233 Cal.App.3d 1410, 1412 [day of sentencing counted for presentence custody credits even though it was only partial day].) In addition, he was entitled to accrue 15 percent of those actual days as conduct credit under
III
DISPOSITION
The judgment is ordered modified to reflect that defendant‘s sentence on count 3 for residential burglary is stayed pursuant to
As so modified, the judgment is affirmed.
McKinster, J., and King, J., concurred.
