People v. Ruiz CA2/8

Filed 6/2/25 P. v. Ruiz CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B336269

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA439101 v.

JOSE LUIS RUIZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ray G. Jurado, Judge. Affirmed with corrections. Steven Schorr, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill and Nima Razfar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

The trial court struck a one-year prior prison term from Jose Luis Ruiz’s sentence but denied further relief. We affirm his reduced, 17-year sentence. Code citations are to the Penal Code. I We state the facts from the probation report, as does Ruiz. One morning in August 2015, police went to the home Ruiz shared with his girlfriend of two years and her two sons. Ruiz was at the scene with blood on his face. Around 10 p.m. the evening before, Ruiz had returned home agitated and paranoid. His girlfriend told him to leave so she could go back to sleep. Ruiz grabbed her from behind and threatened to kill her if she moved. He had a kitchen knife in his hand. Ruiz held her in the bedroom for several hours and threatened to kill her two sons if she yelled or said anything. She begged him to let her go. Ruiz grew angrier and punched her in the eye and the mouth, cutting her lip and making her bleed and swell. He broke furniture in the house. Then he went to the boys’ room and kicked the door open. He ordered the boys to listen and to hand over their phones or else he would kill their mother. They were scared and complied. Ruiz told the older boy to stand at the window and watch for people who were pursuing him. The boys managed to grab pieces of broken furniture, and they hit Ruiz. One of them called police. A December 2015 information charged Ruiz with seven counts: one count of injuring a cohabitant (§ 273.5, subds. (a–b)); three counts of criminal threats (§ 422, subd. (a)); and three counts of false imprisonment by violence (§ 236). The information warned Ruiz had two prior serious felony convictions and was subject to sentencing under the Three Strikes law.