People v. Covarrubias CA2/5

Filed 12/29/25 P. v. Covarrubias CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

B341925 THE PEOPLE, (Los Angeles County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. KA025647) v.

GABRIEL MICHAEL COVARRUBIAS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Gabriel Michael Covarrubias (defendant) appeals from the trial court’s order resentencing him under Penal Code section 1172.75.1 Defendant’s attorney filed a brief raising no issues and asking this court to independently review the record, and defendant submitted a supplemental brief on his own behalf. Under the standard articulated in People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

Cal.5th 216, we decline counsel’s invitation to undertake an independent review of the record. Instead, we evaluate the arguments defendant raises in his letter brief. (Id. at pp. 231- 232.) Finding his arguments unmeritorious, we affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts A. The underlying crimes On five different occasions between December 1994 and January 1995, defendant robbed four different store clerks at four different business establishments, brandishing a BB gun and taking $100 to $300 dollars from the cash registers. B. Conviction and appeal On November 30, 1995, a jury found defendant guilty of five counts of second degree robbery. For four of the counts, the jury found that defendant personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon within the meaning of section 12022.5, subdivision (b). The trial court then held a bench trial and found beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had suffered three prior convictions for: robbery (Case No. GA002941), attempted robbery (Case No. GA005064), and grand theft (Case No. GA005810). Accordingly, the trial court found true the allegations that defendant had served three prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)); had two prior serious felony convictions (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)); and had two prior strikes within the meaning of our state’s Three Strikes Law (§§ 667, 1170.12). The trial court sentenced defendant to 137 years to life, consisting of five consecutive 25-year-to-life terms for each robbery count, plus enhancements of ten years for defendant’s prior serious felony convictions (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)), one year for defendant’s personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon on