People v. Fields CA2/1

Filed 12/26/25 P. v. Fields CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

THE PEOPLE, B337454

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA107617) v.

DEANTE CORTEZ FIELDS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Kathryn A. Solorzano, Judge. Affirmed. Vanessa Place, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Zee Rodriguez and John Yang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Dante Cortez Fields pleaded no contest to one count of murder in exchange for dismissal of other charges. He later moved to withdraw his plea, arguing his attorney coerced him into making it. The trial court denied the motion, and Fields now appeals from his conviction on the ground that the trial judge, not his attorney, coerced him into making the plea. We conclude Fields forfeited the argument by failing to raise it below, and in any event his claim is meritless. We thus affirm.

BACKGROUND On May 2, 2021, Fields shot Lionel Jones, W.B. and T.G. in Westchester Park in Los Angeles. Jones was killed. The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged Fields by information with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of attempted murder. During plea negotiations, the People contemplated offering a second degree murder conviction with a sentence of 15 years to life. Fields stated he would refuse such an offer on the ground that his brother, who was also involved in the shooting, had been allowed to plead to manslaughter and receive a determinate sentence. The People explained that their offer to Fields would be different because he was the actual shooter. Over the course of three consecutive days beginning May 22, 2023, Fields, defense counsel, and the court discussed a potential plea, the court advising Fields he would be sentenced to 25 years to life if convicted of first degree murder. The court advised Fields at length that if facts alleged in the information were proven to the jury, the prosecution would have a “very strong first degree murder” case. The court stated that “maybe something different will come out at the trial,” but unless Fields could refute the alleged facts with evidence establishing he was not the shooter or he acted in self-defense or