People v. Martin

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 1254 OPINION

Defendant and appellant Louis Lambert Martin was charged with resisting an executive officer (Pen. Code, § 69; count 1)1 and corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant (§ 273.5, subd. (a); count 2). Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant pled guilty to count 1, and count 2 was dismissed at the time of sentencing. The trial court placed defendant on three years' probation with specified conditions.

On appeal, defendant contends the court improperly imposed probation conditions addressing domestic violence, since the court dismissed the corporal injury to a spouse charge, and there was no Harvey2 waiver in the plea agreement. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND On July 27, 2008, police officers were dispatched to the apartment where defendant lived with his girlfriend (the victim) regarding a domestic violence incident. Defendant had already fled the scene before the officers arrived. *Page 1255 Upon arrival, the officers observed redness and swelling to the victim's nose and cheek. She advised them that defendant had punched her in the face with a closed fist and choked her. The victim said there was a prior history of domestic violence and that defendant had struck her several times in the past.

Later that day, defendant returned to his apartment. As he walked up the staircase to the apartment, the officers ordered him to stop. He ignored them and went into the apartment. One of the officers put his foot in the doorway of the apartment to keep the door open, but defendant shut the door on his foot and ankle. The officer yelled for defendant to open the door, but defendant would not listen. The officers forced their way into the apartment, and defendant ran out the back door. The officers located him in the carport trying to wedge himself under a car. Defendant fought with officers as they tried to handcuff him.

Defendant admitted to the police that he had grabbed the victim by the neck and said she "accidentally got punched in the face" when he was fighting with the victim's brother. Defendant said he closed the door on the officer's foot and fled the scene because he did not want to go to jail.

ANALYSIS The Trial Court Properly Imposed the Domestic Violence Conditions of Probation Defendant contends that since the court dismissed the count involving domestic violence (count 2), and there was no Harvey waiver in the plea agreement, the court erred by imposing probation conditions addressing domestic violence (the domestic violence conditions).3 We disagree.