People v. Vernon CA2/8

Filed 5/6/14 P. v. Vernon CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B241169

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA121212) v.

DEMETRIUS JOSE VERNON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ronald V. Skyers, Judge. Affirmed.

Gary V. Cooks, 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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Demetrius Jose Vernon appeals his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Pen. Code, former § 12021, subd. (a)(1).)1 We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURE On November 29, 2011, pursuant to a search warrant, Los Angeles County police officers entered the home of defendant’s mother, Rosalind Dobbins, on North Northwood Avenue in Compton. Dobbins was the only person present at the home. The home consisted of a living room, front bedroom, a middle bedroom, and two back bedrooms, one of which connected to the middle bedroom via an open doorway. During the subsequent search, in the middle bedroom, Officer David Kraemer found a loaded .38-caliber revolver in a stack of clothing on a shelf in the closet. Also found in the closet were men’s clothing, shoes, cologne, and deodorant. Some of the clothing in the bedroom belonged to defendant. The police found four rounds of .38- caliber ammunition on the floor of the bedroom. An additional 11 rounds were found on the floor in the doorway connecting the adjacent rear bedroom. In the rear bedroom, in the top drawer of a dresser, officers found a piece of mail addressed to defendant at the North Northwood Avenue address. The officers arrested Dobbins and placed her in the back of a police car, wherein they video recorded her statement. Officers specifically asked who owned the gun and Dobbins responded that the gun, the clothes, and the middle bedroom belonged to defendant. Dobbins also stated that she previously had seen defendant with a different gun on the bed in the middle bedroom. She stated that she had told defendant that she did not want a handgun in her house and took the gun back from him. It is unclear whether the gun was removed from the house. At trial, Dobbins recanted many of the statements she made during her interview. Dobbins testified that she was high on cocaine while she was interviewed, had not slept the night before, and was scared because she had answered the door holding a crack pipe and did not want to be held responsible for the gun. Dobbins had