California Court of Appeal, 5th District — appointed by Edmund Gerald Brown
California Court of Appeal, 5th District — appointed by Edmund Gerald Brown
People v. Ramos
California Court of Appeal · 1996-11-01 · cited 85×
The case involved defendant Sabino Ramos, who was charged with multiple counts of robbery, assault with a firearm, and drug-related offenses after robbing eight victims at gunpoint over ten days in 1995 while using PCP and methamphetamine. Ramos pleaded guilty to the robberies and drug charges, admitted most enhancements, and received a court trial on his sanity plea before being found legally sane and sentenced to 22 years; on appeal, he challenged the calculation of his presentence conduct credits. The court awarded him 31 days of conduct credits based on 15% of his 213 days in custody under Penal Code section 2933.1, which caps credits at 15% for violent felonies involving firearm use. Ramos argued for 32 to 34 days by interpreting "15 percent" more flexibly to include figures up to just under 16%, but the court rejected this, holding that the statute requires a strict 15% limit and that the trial court's whole-number rounding was correct under principles of statutory construction. The decision affirmed the sentence after addressing ambiguities in credit calculations for violent offenders.
criminal lawprocedure
People v. Dunn-Gonzalez
California Court of Appeal · 1996-06-27 · cited 44×
The case involved defendant Diane Dunn-Gonzalez, who was charged in 1994 with two counts of fraudulent appropriation of over $400, including from an elder adult in her care, based on her handling of funds for client Maiy LaBarre. After the trial court denied a motion to dismiss due to pre-charging delay, a jury convicted her on both counts, leading to a sentence of three years in prison plus restitution. On appeal, the court affirmed the convictions, holding that the multi-year delay was justified by severe staffing shortages in the district attorney's and sheriff's offices rather than negligence or bad faith, and that the defendant had not sufficiently demonstrated prejudice from the passage of time or unavailability of witnesses. The court also ordered the trial court to strike an unauthorized $225 fee for the presentence report.
criminal lawprocedure
People v. Whitfield
California Court of Appeal · 1996-06-20 · cited 30×
In People v. Whitfield, the defendant was charged with possession of a controlled substance for sale after police executing a search warrant at an apartment complex detained her, asked without Miranda warnings whether she had narcotics, and obtained cocaine base that she retrieved from her clothing and handed over; a subsequent search yielded marijuana. Following denial of her motion to suppress, she pleaded nolo contendere. The court held that the detention and arrest satisfied Fourth Amendment probable cause requirements based on observed exchanges consistent with narcotics transactions. Although the questioning constituted custodial interrogation without Miranda warnings, the physical evidence was not subject to exclusion because federal constitutional law does not require suppression of non-testimonial fruits of a Miranda violation, and California law follows that rule.
criminal lawprocedure
People v. Light
California Court of Appeal · 1996-04-24 · cited 21×
In People v. Light, a jury convicted defendant Louis Light, Jr. of two counts of rape, genital penetration, sexual battery, second-degree burglary, and second-degree robbery after he lured a real estate agent to an empty house under false pretenses, assaulted her with a wooden dowel, sexually assaulted her, and stole her purse, resulting in a 52-year prison sentence that included enhancements for weapon use and great bodily injury. On appeal, Light argued that the trial court made instructional errors, particularly regarding the reasonable doubt instruction, and that evidence was insufficient to support the weapon enhancements. The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment, holding that the reasonable doubt instruction complied with prior precedent from People v. Freeman approving the revised CALJIC No. 2.90 language, and rejecting the remaining claims of error.
criminal lawprocedure
Westside Center Associates v. Safeway Stores 23, Inc.
California Court of Appeal · 1996-02-05 · cited 101×
The case involved a dispute over a fragmented neighborhood shopping center in Taft, California, where Safeway, the anchor tenant, closed its supermarket before the end of its lease term, removed fixtures, and renewed the lease while keeping the space vacant. The plaintiff, Westside Center Associates (WCA), which owned the remaining portions of the center, sued Safeway for breach of an implied covenant to remain operational and for tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, alleging Safeway aimed to diminish the property's value. Following pretrial proceedings on stipulated facts, the trial court granted judgment in favor of Safeway on all claims, and the appellate court affirmed, concluding that the claims failed as a matter of law regarding the implied covenant and causation for interference.
business & regulatorypropertytorts & liability
People v. Temple
California Court of Appeal · 1995-07-19 · cited 4×
In People v. Temple, the prosecution appealed a trial court order dismissing three drug-related charges against defendant Jed William Temple after granting in part his motion to suppress evidence. The charges stemmed from a 1993 traffic stop of a van where officers detected the odor of marijuana, searched the occupants including Temple without individualized suspicion beyond his presence in the vehicle, and recovered marijuana and methamphetamine from his pockets and duffel bag. The trial court held that probable cause existed to search the van but not Temple personally, relying on U.S. v. Soyland, and excluded related statements leading to dismissal of all counts. The appellate court examined the appeal's scope under Penal Code section 1238 and addressed whether the shared odor and circumstances provided sufficient basis for the personal search.
criminal lawprocedure