People v. Martinez

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 1158 OPINION

Salvador Martinez appeals from the judgment sentencing him to state prison for violating probation. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In April 2002, Salvador Martinez pleaded no contest in the San Fernando branch of Los Angeles Superior Court to possession of methamphetamine. (Health Saf. Code, § 11377.) The court sentenced him under Proposition 36 to three years' probation. (Pen. Code, § 1210 et seq.) In November 2002, he pleaded guilty to a second charge of possession of methamphetamine, and the San Fernando court sentenced him again under Proposition 36 to three years' probation.

In April 2003, Martinez tried to cash at a North Hollywood check cashing store a $492 check to him drawn on the account of "Learning Independence." Nothing on the face of the check suggested anything was amiss. Two years earlier, however, Learning Independence had thrown away a set of blank checks, one of which was the check that Martinez presented. Because the store's cashier thought it odd that Martinez showed his California identification card instead of his driver's license to confirm his identification, she faxed a copy of the check to her company call center. The call center told her the check had been stolen and that the police were on their way. About 15 minutes later, the police arrived and arrested Martinez.

Charged with forgery (Pen. Code, § 470), Martinez was tried in the Van Nuys branch of superior court for violating his probation. The hearing took place on October 6, 2003. He testified he was a commercial truck driver and had received the check for work he did on the side. He explained he had been in downtown Los Angeles when a man named Carlos asked him to deliver supplies to a jobsite Martinez variously described as being at 8th and Main or 3rd and Main. Additionally, Martinez stated at one time or another that the man's name was Carlos, or Juan, or was a group of people whose names he *Page 1159 forgot. The court found Martinez did not write the forged check, but did try to cash it, knowing it was fraudulent. The court therefore found Martinez had violated his probation, and sentenced him to two years in state prison. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION 1. Probation Violation Hearing Properly in Van Nuys

Martinez objected to the Van Nuys court trying his probation violation. He contends the San Fernando court that had accepted his plea bargains and put him on probation should have heard his probation violation. In support, he cites People v. Arbuckle (1978) 22 Cal.3d 749 [150 Cal.Rptr. 778, 587 P.2d 220] (Arbuckle), which entitles a plea-bargaining defendant to insist that the same court that accepts his plea also pass sentence. Courts have not, however, extended Arbuckle to probation violations. People v. Beaudrie (1983)147 Cal.App.3d 686 [195 Cal.Rptr. 289], explained "Arbuckle gave defendants the right to be sentenced . . . by the same judge who accepted a plea of guilty. . . . [But] there is a distinction between a sentencing hearing following a plea of guilty and a sentencing following a revocation hearing. [The defendant in this case] was sentenced by the same judge who accepted his original plea. Sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation. Once that sentence was imposed, Arbuckle no longer applied." (Id. at pp. 693-694, italics added; see also People v. Watson (1982)129 Cal.App.3d 5, 8 [180 Cal.Rptr. 759] [rejected as "absurd" argument that "if probation is revoked years after the bargain is kept and sentence technically imposed for the first time, [the defendant] is entitled to have the same judge who accepted the plea impose `the sentence.'"].)