People v. Vallejo

Opinion

ASHBY, Acting P. J.

By jury trial appellant George Vallejo was convicted of one count of grand theft auto and one count of hit-and-run driving. (Pen. Code, former § 487, subd. 3; Veh. Code, § 20002, subd. (a).) By nonjury trial he was found to have served three prior prison terms. (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b).) He was sentenced to state prison for an upper term of three years for grand theft auto and a concurrent term of one hundred eighty days for hit-and-run driving, plus three years for the prior prison terms, for a total of six years.

He appeals, contending (1) the trial court improperly denied him an evidentiary hearing on his motion to strike the prior convictions on constitutional grounds; and (2) the concurrent sentence for hit-and-run driving violates Penal Code section 654. Finding no merit to these contentions we affirm. When appellant failed to produce transcripts of the prior plea proceedings, the court was not required to consider appellant’s offer of testimony as a substitute for transcripts. (Pts. I and III, certified for publication.) Appellant’s leaving the scene of an accident involved an independent criminal objective. (Pt. II, not for publication.)

[763]

I

Prior Convictions

Appellant represented himself. Trial of the three alleged prior prison terms was bifurcated at appellant’s request until after the verdict on the underlying charges. After the jury verdict, appellant was granted a one-week continuance for nonjury trial on the priors.

At the commencement of the continued hearing, appellant moved to strike the priors on the ground that at the time of the prior convictions by guilty plea he was not properly advised of his rights as required by

Boykin-Tahl.

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1

Appellant requested a continuance to obtain transcripts of his prior pleas. The court denied this request as untimely. Although appellant contended he had previously requested transcripts and had not been provided them, the record does not support this claim. The court was never previously apprised of any request by appellant for transcripts; the prosecutor denied he had ever been requested to provide transcripts; and there was no such request in appellant’s pretrial discovery motion.