People v. Rash CA3

Filed 1/21/26 P. v. Rash CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

(Butte) ----

THE PEOPLE, C102021

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. Nos. 21CF01565, 22CF00247 & 23CF00903) v.

JEFFREY SCOTT RASH,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Jeffrey Scott Rash pled no contest in three separate cases to identity theft and failure to appear. He waived a jury or court trial for the determination of aggravating factors and agreed that the trial court could impose the lower, middle, or upper term. The trial court sentenced him to an aggregate term of four years four months, including the upper term of three years on the identity theft count. Defendant did not object in the trial court to the trial court’s finding of an aggravating factor or to the upper term sentence. Defendant now contends the trial court erred under Penal Code1 section 1170 in imposing the upper term sentence because it did not consider his substance abuse as a

1 Undesignated section references are to the Penal Code.

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mitigating factor. We conclude defendant forfeited the contention by failing to object in the trial court. Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND In April 2021, in Butte County Superior Court case No. 21CF01565 (case No. 1565), defendant was charged with identity theft (§ 530.5, subd. (c)(3)), possession of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code § 11377, subd. (a)), and possession of drug paraphernalia (Health & Saf. Code § 11364, subd. (a)). Defendant was charged after he was found with the identification documents of over 22 people, which he used to file fraudulent claims with the Employment Development Department (EDD), resulting in payment of $202,758 in fraudulent benefits. Defendant was released on bail in May 2021. In January 2022, defendant was charged in a separate case, Butte County Superior Court case No. 22CF00247 (case No. 0247), for failure to appear while on bail (§ 1320.5) in case No. 1565 and an earlier case. Bail was reinstated in case No. 1565, and defendant was released on his own recognizance in case No. 0247. In December 2022, defendant pled no contest to identity theft in case No. 1565 and failure to appear in case No. 0247. Pursuant to a plea agreement resolving these and three other cases, the remaining counts and cases were dismissed with a Harvey2 waiver. As part of defendant’s plea, defendant acknowledged that the trial court could not impose a sentence exceeding the middle term unless aggravating factors justified the upper term. Defendant waived his right to a jury or court trial on aggravating factors. Defendant agreed the trial court could find aggravating factors based on the probable cause declaration, police reports, and probation report, and he acknowledged that the trial court could impose the lower, middle, or upper term. Defendant also agreed that if he believed