People v. Cervantes CA2/7

Filed 10/10/24 P. v. Cervantes CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SEVEN

THE PEOPLE, B333342

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. GA106827) v.

DANIEL CERVANTES,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Suzette Clover, Judge. Affirmed. Jeralyn Keller, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. _______________

INTRODUCTION

Daniel Cervantes appeals from his conviction for the first degree murder of Julio Robles-Castaneda. We appointed counsel to represent Cervantes in this appeal. Cervantes’s counsel reviewed the record and did not identify any arguable issues. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) Nor, after reviewing the record independently, have we. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Robles-Castaneda had been in an intermittent relationship with Zulema Burgueno-Ramirez, beginning when Robles- Castaneda was 18 years old and Burgueno-Ramirez was 13 years old.1 In October 2018 they had a son. They were together at the time of Robles-Castaneda’s death. Cervantes met Burgueno-Ramirez in 2017, and they began a sexual relationship in August 2019. Cervantes and Robles- Castaneda would both spend several nights a week with Burgueno-Ramirez, who lived with her mother, but generally on different nights. Cervantes had animosity toward Robles- Castaneda because of his sexual relationship with Burgueno- Ramirez. He would on occasion tell Burgueno-Ramirez that he wanted to “whack” Robles-Castaneda and ask her if he could. A month before the murder, Cervantes told Burgueno- Ramirez’s neighbor, Julio Cesar Solis Valencia, that he wanted to kill Robles-Castaneda, and he showed Valencia a gun he had in