People v. Woods CA6

Filed 4/11/25 P. v. Woods CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H052501 (Monterey County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. 19CR000033)

v.

AUSTIN JEROME WOODS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Austin Jerome Woods appeals from a judgment entered after conviction by plea. Appointed counsel for Woods filed a brief asking this court to review the record to determine whether there are any arguable issues. (See People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) Woods was advised of the right to file a supplemental brief but has not responded. Finding no arguable error that would result in a disposition more favorable to Woods, we affirm the judgment. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1 On October 27, 2018, Woods was an inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison, serving a sentence in a case from Orange County.2 A correctional officer saw tobacco

We take these facts from the probation report prepared for Woods’s sentencing. 1 2 On August 31, 2016, Woods was sentenced to six years in prison for a violation of section 266i, subdivision (a) (pimping and pandering a minor) (Orange County case).

residue and ashes on the floor next to Woods’s bed. A search of Woods’s person revealed a plastic nasal spray bottle with a brown liquid inside it that Woods described as “ ‘a little bit of [h]eroin.’ ” The liquid in the bottle tested positive for heroin. Officers searched Woods’s bunk and locker and found three hypodermic syringes that had traces of brown liquid on them. While in custody in Salinas Valley State Prison on the Orange County case, Woods was charged by complaint in Monterey County on January 2, 2019, with possession of contraband in a prison (Pen. Code,3 § 4573.6, subd. (a); count 1) and possession of drug paraphernalia in prison (§ 4573.8; count 2); with two allegations he had previously sustained a juvenile adjudication for a serious or violent felony (attempted robbery and robbery)4 (§ 1170.12, subd. (b)(3)) (prior juvenile strike allegation). (We refer to this prosecution, which is the subject of this appeal, as the Monterey County case.) Woods finished his prison term on the Orange County case and posted bail on the Monterey County case on March 20, 2020. After several intervening court appearances, on April 13, 2022, Woods waived his right to preliminary hearing. On April 19, 2022, the district attorney filed an information with the same charges and allegations as in the complaint. Woods remained out of custody on the Monterey County case but, by December 16, 2022, was in custody in Alameda County on an unrelated matter. On March 30, 2023, the court in the Monterey County case issued a bench warrant after Woods failed to appear for a pretrial conference. Woods posted a bail bond on June 23, 2023, in the Monterey County case without going into custody on the bench warrant. However, on August 30, 2023, Woods failed to appear, and the court in the Monterey County case issued a bench warrant.