People v. Williams CA5

Filed 7/29/25 P. v. Williams CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

THE PEOPLE, F088652/F088653/F088680 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Consolidated)

v. (Super. Ct. Nos. BF190118A, BF199425A & BV014596A) JOHN WILLIAMS III,

Defendant and Appellant. OPINION

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. Charles R. Brehmer, Judge. Martin Baker, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Kimberley A. Donohue, Assistant Attorney General, Eric L. Christofferson, and John Merritt, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Levy, Acting P. J., Peña, J. and De Santos, J.

INTRODUCTION In September 2024, appellant John Williams III was sentenced in multiple criminal cases, including for a conviction of second degree robbery in Kern County Superior Court case number BF199425A. Appellant received an aggregate prison term of nine years four months. The parties agree, as do we, that insufficient evidence supports the trial court’s finding of a prior serious felony conviction. We reverse that true finding and vacate the sentence. Appellant acknowledges that the People may, on remand, present additional evidence to demonstrate that the prior conviction qualifies as a strike offense. (See People v. Banuelos (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 601, 607–608 (Banuelos).) We remand for further proceedings. BACKGROUND Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions in his multiple criminal matters. We summarize only the facts relevant to Kern County Superior Court case number BF199425A.1 In 2023, appellant confronted the victim while brandishing an apparent handgun. Appellant took grocery bags from the victim, which contained “junk” the victim had recently found. Law enforcement responded, and appellant initially gave a false name. He was found in possession of an unloaded pellet gun. The property was recovered and returned to the victim. A jury convicted appellant of second degree robbery (Pen. Code, § 212.5, subd. (c);2 count 1) and found true that appellant personally used a deadly or dangerous