People v. Rodriguez CA4/3

Filed 5/15/14 P. v. Rodriguez 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, G049076

v. (Super. Ct. No. 12CF1246)

OSCAR OMAR RODRIGUEZ, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Sheila F. Hanson, Judge. Affirmed. Maria Leftwich, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

We appointed counsel to represent defendant Oscar Omar Rodriguez on appeal. Counsel filed a brief which set forth the facts of the case. Counsel did not argue against the client, but advised the court no issues were found to argue on defendant’s behalf. Defendant was given 30 days to file written argument in defendant’s own behalf. That period has passed, and we have received no communication from defendant. A jury found defendant guilty of attempted robbery as charged in count one of the information. After finding it true defendant suffered a prior serious or violent felony, the court sentenced defendant to seven years in prison. Prior to trial, the court heard the prosecutor’s request for permission to introduce evidence of defendant’s prior criminal conduct as well as a defense motion to exclude evidence of defendant’s prior felony conviction, another attempted robbery. The facts presented in the prosecutor’s moving papers were: “In Court Case number 11CF2294, Defendant pled guilty to PC 664-211/212.5(c). The defendant entered a commercial building, a Santa Ana grocery store, and approached a grocery store employee. The defendant told the employee ‘GIVE ME THE MONEY, I HAVE A GUN.’ The grocery store clerk closed the cash register drawer and froze. The defendant repeated his demand and reached under his shirt into his waistband. The clerk, in fear for his life, called out the manger who came over to the cash register. Defendant said ‘DO NOT CALL ANYONE.’ The defendant then left the store without any money.” The court found both the prior and the present attempted robberies to be sufficiently similar to make that type of evidence relevant to defendant’s intent. The court noted the two crimes occurred within a year of each other, and concluded the prior crime was not remote in time. With regard to the instant crime, on April 25, 2012, defendant sat down at the desk of a personal banker at Bank of America in Santa Ana and picked up a note pad from her desk and wrote out a “sticky note” stating: “I need money fast. Please don’t try to pull any.” Defendant then stared at the banker and she felt intimidated, scared and in