People v. Baltazar CA4/3

Filed 1/22/14 P. v. Baltazar CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G048136

v. (Super. Ct. No. 09NF2874)

PETER ALBERT BALTAZAR, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, W. Michael Hayes, Judge. Affirmed. Thien Huong Tran, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

Defendant Peter Albert Baltazar filed a notice of appeal after a jury convicted him of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); all statutory references are to the Penal Code unless noted), and found to be true the allegation he personally discharged a firearm causing death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). His appointed counsel filed a brief summarizing the case, but advised this court he found no issues to support an appeal. At our invitation, Baltazar submitted a written brief on his own behalf. After considering Baltazar’s brief and conducting an independent review of the record under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, we affirm.

FACTS Around 10:30 p.m. on the evening of March 2, 2009, Leesa Sandel was in the kitchen of her Brea home when she heard a gunshot. Looking out the window, she saw a white, older model van traveling down the street with its side door open and its lights off. The door closed as the van rounded the corner. Sandel’s neighbor, Patrick Mannion, heard a bang and saw a flash. Mannion walked outside to investigate, saw the van, and found the body of 24-year-old James Arrecis in the street. Arrecis had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head at close range by a 12-gauge shotgun. Arrecis’s pocket contained a piece of paper with Baltazar’s mother’s home address in La Habra. Arrecis’s cell phone, found near the body, reflected Arrecis had exchanged text messages with Baltazar throughout the day. The last text message occurred at 5:09 p.m., and stated, “‘Look, Dumbass. I didn’t realize we were doing our own thing now that Mina is going to be gone. Get right, dog. Stop acting like my cuz. P.B.’” Arrecis’s cell phone also showed he had communicated with Marina Nunez, Baltazar’s cousin. Nunez and Arrecis were in an intimate relationship and had a young daughter together. The couple had been with Baltazar and Baltazar’s father, Pedro, earlier in the day.