People v. Stephens CA1/1

Filed 9/25/25 P. v. Stephens CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A169698 v. JEFFERY DEAN STEPHENS, (Contra Costa County Super. Ct. No. 02003307642) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Jeffery Dean Stephens appeals from a judgment executing his prison sentence after the trial court found he had violated a probation condition prohibiting him from consuming alcohol. Stephens argues he received ineffective assistance of counsel, asserting that without defense counsel’s questioning there was insufficient evidence of a probation violation. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND In December 2022, Stephens pled no contest to driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol (Veh. Code,1 § 23152, subd. (a); count 1) and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more (§ 23152, subd. (b); count 2), committing both offenses within 10 years of a prior DUI (§ 23550.5). He also pled no contest to sentencing enhancements and

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Vehicle Code.

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admitted prior felony DUI convictions and aggravating circumstances. The trial court sentenced Stephens to the upper term of three years in prison, and it suspended execution of the sentence and placed Stephens on formal probation for five years, subject to various terms and conditions. The probation conditions prohibited him from possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages and required him to submit to alcohol detection tests as directed and to attend recovery meetings. Initially, Stephens was required to wear a SCRAM alcohol monitoring device. He was released from SCRAM in April 2023. In July 2023, the probation department filed a petition to revoke probation alleging Stephens had violated probation by consuming alcohol. According to the petition, when Stephens met with his probation officer on July 5, 2023, he was under the influence of alcohol as evidenced by two breathalyzer samples “resulting in a .126 BrAC and .131 BrAC.” The trial court revoked probation and issued a warrant for Stephens’s arrest. At the probation revocation hearing conducted on July 19, 2023, the court ordered Stephens to be placed with a SCRAM device and released him from custody. The court did not rule on the petition. Instead, it continued the matter for 90 days. In October 2023, and before the next hearing, the probation department filed a supplemental petition to revoke Stephens’s probation, alleging that Stephens consumed alcohol on October 7 and 8, as confirmed by remote breath tests in which he “blew a BrAC of 0.019” and “a BrAC of 0.20.” The trial court remanded Stephens into custody pending the probation revocation hearing. On November 30, 2023, the trial court conducted the probation revocation hearing. The People called deputy probation officer Justin Badler