People v. Renteria CA2/8

Filed 12/20/13 P. v. Renteria CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B243266

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA120577) v.

JESUS G. RENTERIA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Laura R. Walton, Judge. Affirmed.

Jolene Larimore, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Tannaz Kouhpainezhad, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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The sole question on appeal is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying probation to defendant and appellant Jesus G. Renteria. Defendant argues the court erred in failing to consider a grant of probation in the interests of justice. We conclude defendant has failed to establish reversible error in the court’s sentencing choices, and therefore affirm. In October 2011, defendant and his wife brought their nine-month-old son to the emergency room with a swelling on the side of his head. A CT scan was performed and it was determined the infant had suffered a skull fracture and a subdural hematoma. The parents denied knowing what caused the swelling. A hospital social worker and law enforcement were called. During an interview with the investigating deputy sheriff, defendant gave several different explanations for how his son might have been injured, and then admitted he hit his son with a toy microphone containing two C batteries. Defendant said he was tired, the baby would not stop crying and he hit him “pretty hard” once with the microphone. Defendant was charged with one count of felony child abuse (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (a)).1 It was also specially alleged defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on a child under the age of five (§ 12022.7, subd. (d)), and personally used a dangerous weapon in the commission of the offense, the microphone (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). Following trial by jury, defendant was convicted of the child abuse count and the special allegations were found true. The sentencing hearing was held on August 14, 2012. At the outset of the hearing, the prosecutor explained she had not filed a written sentencing memorandum, but stated the case is “a mandatory state prison case based on the charges and allegations” with a potential maximum sentence of 13 years. The court then allowed defendant to present numerous witnesses attesting to his general character and his lack of any criminal record or history of violence. The