People v. Wang CA2/6

Filed 12/11/24 P. v. Wang CA2/6

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B333630 (Super. Ct. No. KA127290) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County)

v.

WENLI WANG,

Defendant and Appellant.

Wenli Wang appeals the judgment following his conviction by a jury of dissuading a witness (Pen. Code, § 136.1, subd. (b); count one)1, corporal injury to a spouse (§ 273.5, subd. (a); count two), and child abuse (§ 273a, subd. (b); count three). He received the middle term of three years in prison on count two, running concurrently with a three-year term on count one and a 180-day jail term on count three.

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

We appointed counsel to represent him on this appeal. After reviewing the record, counsel filed an opening brief relying on People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. Appellant filed a supplemental brief. We will affirm. FACTS Appellant threatened to kill his wife during an hours-long tirade in 2021. The incident culminated with him holding her down on the bed and beating her with an iPad stand, then grabbing her hair as she tried to flee. Their distraught 13-year- old daughter tried to shield her mother and calm down her father throughout the incident. At trial, prosecutors played a surreptitious audio recording made by his wife during the incident. She and the daughter testified about what was happening at various times throughout the recording. Appellant’s anger grew as he repeatedly blamed his wife for reporting him to police in 2017 after he hit her during an argument. This resulted in his arrest, but no charges were filed. He blamed her for a cascade of tragedies that followed. His wife testified that appellant would often hit himself when he was emotional. Appellant testified in his own defense against the advice of his trial counsel. He characterized his wife as the aggressor. He said she used the 2017 incident to force him to spend more time with her and their daughter instead of properly caring for his aging parents. He believed this hastened his elderly father’s death from Alzheimer’s disease. Appellant accused his wife of calling police to force him to obtain mental health treatment he did not need or want. He denied hitting anyone intentionally but recognized he might have done so accidentally while hitting