People v. Caseres CA2/6

Filed 4/16/25 P. v. Caseres CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. B335703 (Super. Ct. No. NA094572 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County)

v.

JOSEPH CASERES,

Defendant and Appellant.

Joseph Caseres appeals the trial court’s judgment following a resentencing hearing to strike a now-invalid prior prison term enhancement. (Pen. Code, §§ 1172.75, 667.5, subd. (b).)1 We affirm. This appeal concerns Caseres’s conviction of second degree robbery with a finding of personal firearm use and discharge, as well as prior felony strike conviction and prison term findings. Caseres received a sentence of 36 years’ imprisonment, which

1All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless

stated otherwise.

included one year for a prior prison term enhancement. At a section 1172.75 resentencing, the trial court struck the one-year prison term enhancement, but otherwise reimposed the same sentence. Caseres now complains that the court erred by reimposing the upper-term sentence for robbery without a finding that the aggravating upper-term factor was true beyond a reasonable doubt. (§§ 1172.75, subd. (d)(2)-(4), 1170, subd. (b)(2).) For several reasons, we reject this contention. (People v. Brannon-Thompson (2024) 104 Cal.App.5th 455, 466-467.) FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On December 31, 2012, Caseres took a chain necklace, watch, and earrings from Ramiro Suarez. Caseres fired a firearm near Suarez’s ankle, grazing it. Suarez’s sister saw the robbery and shooting; she and Suarez recognized and identified Caseres. Prior to trial, Suarez informed a police detective that he had been threatened and would not cooperate in the prosecution. At trial, Suarez testified that he was intoxicated during the crimes and unable to identify the robber. A jury convicted Caseres of second degree robbery and found that he personally used and discharged a firearm during commission of the crime. (§§ 211, 12022.53, subds. (b) & (c).) In a separate proceeding, Caseres admitted that he had served two prior prison terms within the meaning of section 667.5, subdivision (b), and been convicted of a serious felony and strike conviction. (§§ 667, subd. (a), 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d).) The prior prison terms were served for a 2004 conviction for making criminal threats, and a 2009 conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.