People v. Apostolovic CA4/3

Filed 12/5/25 P. v. Apostolovic CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G064175

v. (Super. Ct. No. 15ZF0002)

ALEKSANDAR APOSTOLOVIC, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Gregg L. Prickett, Judge. Affirmed. Jo Pastore, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Christopher Beesley and Daniel Rogers, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

In 2014, Aleksandar Apostolovic fled from the police, causing a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood. After running a stop sign, he crashed his SUV into a minivan, killing one of the minivan’s passengers. Apostolovic pled guilty to murder. He was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison, which included 15 years to life for the murder, five years for a prior serious felony enhancement (the nickel prior), and three years for prior prison term enhancements. Years later, Apostolovic filed a resentencing petition under Penal Code section 1172.75.1 The court resentenced him to 20 years to life in prison. It struck the prior prison term enhancements, but it concluded that striking the nickel prior was not in the interests of justice. On appeal, Apostolovic argues the trial court abused its discretion by failing to strike the nickel prior. We disagree. At the time of the murder, Apostolovic had been convicted of multiple felonies and had several recent traffic citations, including a citation for running a red light and one for weaving through traffic while speeding. Given this history and the egregiousness of the offense, the court could reasonably conclude that striking the nickel prior was not in the interests of justice. Thus, we affirm the judgment. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In 2014, police officers were attempting to locate Apostolovic, who had an outstanding warrant for a firearm violation. They observed him driving an SUV and initiated a stop. Apostolovic briefly stopped, then backed up his SUV, changed gears, and rammed his SUV into the police car before driving off. With the police in pursuit, he raced through a residential neighborhood and reached speeds of around 50 miles per hour, which was