People v. Lopez CA2/2

Filed 3/13/14 P. v. Lopez CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

THE PEOPLE, B247828

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA080638) v.

GEORGE ANDREW LOPEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT:*

A jury convicted appellant George Andrew Lopez of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4))1 and battery with serious bodily injury (§ 243, subd. (d)). Appellant’s motion to reduce both counts to misdemeanors was heard and denied without prejudice. The trial court sentenced appellant to three years formal probation on the condition, inter alia, that appellant spend 180 days in county jail. * BOREN, P. J ., CHAVEZ, J., FERNS, J.†

† Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution. 1 All further references to statutes are to the Penal Code, unless stated otherwise.

FACTS On April 19, 2012, appellant was working as the project manager of a large renovation project at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Appellant supervised the various subcontractors working on the project. Eduardo Troncoso Aguayo, a supervisor for Precision Wallcoverings, was working with two members of his painting crew, Ricardo Amaro and Daniel Carmelo Cucurullo, on the seventh floor of the hotel. Appellant approached Amaro and yelled, “Where the fuck is Eduardo?” Amaro responded that he did not know and appellant walked away. Shortly thereafter, Aguayo found appellant in one of the rooms being renovated and asked appellant, “What’s going on?” Appellant responded, “What the fuck is going on? It’s not ready. What should I do? You’re a fuckin’ asshole. This thing must be ready right now. The painters are leaving, and the project need [sic] to be done.” Aguayo became afraid and left the room. Appellant followed Aguayo into the hallway and continued to swear at him. Appellant told Aguayo that he needed to speed up his painting crew because they had fallen behind schedule. Aguayo told appellant to calm down. He said, “If you have a problem, call the office” and turned around and walked away from appellant. As Aguayo walked away, appellant kicked an empty box in his direction. Aguayo turned to face appellant, dropped the caulking gun and putty knife he was holding, and yelled, “What’s going on?” Appellant then ran towards Aguayo and hit him on the left side of his face near his eye with a plastic and metal coffee mug. Aguayo heard a crack and felt severe pain inside his head. The coffee spilled on Aguayo and burned him. The plastic covering of the coffee mug was smashed and the metal liner was a little crushed. Appellant and Aguayo began to wrestle with each other but members of the painting crew separated them. Cucurullo testified that appellant approached Aguayo after they had been separated and said, “I’m real sorry. I should never do that.” Ronald Martinez, was the emergency room physician assistant who treated Aguayo at Queen of the Valley Hospital. When he was examined at the hospital, Aguayo had acute left facial and head contusions, concussion syndrome, and an acute fracture of