P. v. Gomez CA2/4

Filed 7/30/13 P. v. Gomez CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FOUR

THE PEOPLE, B242330

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NA091031)

v.

MIGUEL GOMEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Charles D. Sheldon, Judge. Affirmed. Brandie Devall, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, and Paul M. Roadarmel, Jr., Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Miguel Gomez appeals his conviction of one count of unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle (count 1) and one count of unlawful possession of a “shaved” motor vehicle key (count 3). He claims the sentence on count 3 should have been stayed pursuant to section 654 because both offenses arose during a single indivisible transaction. We affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY On January 6, 2012, Los Angeles Police Officers Gayosso and Makari were driving in Wilmington when they noticed a red Honda Civic fail to yield to them at a four-way stop sign. The officers “ran” the license plate and received information that the vehicle was stolen. The officers called for backup and followed the vehicle until it stopped. They ordered appellant, who was driving, to turn off the engine and throw the keys out of the window. He complied. When backup arrived, appellant and his passenger were taken into custody. The officers recovered the items thrown out of the vehicle. One was a shaved key, which was filed down with equal notches made into the grooves all the way up and down the key on both sides. The other had at one point been a small pair of scissors; it was altered in the same fashion as the key, with notches on both sides of the blade. According to Officer Makari, who had received training in lock picking and covert entry into vehicles, it would be possible to break into a vehicle and turn it on with either of these items, which had been shaved and notched to work as an automobile key. The vehicle belonged to Marlowe Paguio. He had reported his 1995 red Honda Civic stolen on the morning of January 4, 2012. He had locked it when he parked it on the street the night before, and had not given anyone permission to drive it. Appellant was charged in count 1 with unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle with 1 a prior (Pen. Code, § 666.5 ), in count 2 with unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)), and in count 3 with the misdemeanor of unlawful possession of a motor vehicle key (§ 466.7). Appellant admitted two prior convictions.