People v. Blattel CA3

Filed 6/17/14 P. v. Blattel CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C073264

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 12F01684)

v.

WILLIAM DOUGLAS BLATTEL,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant William Douglas Blattel, a felon, guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and defendant admitted having served five prior prison terms. The court sentenced defendant to seven years in state prison, consisting of three years for the unlawful firearm possession, one year each for four of the priors, and an additional year for the fifth prior but the punishment stayed. On appeal, defendant contends he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his counsel failed to object to testimony by a police officer that defendant was guilty of possession of the firearm because of the close proximity of the firearm to defendant when

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it was found during the search of his bedroom. Defendant also contends the trial court should have stricken rather than stayed the punishment for the fifth prior. We reject defendant’s first contention, but, like the People, agree with him as to his second claim. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS On March 6, 2012, defendant, who was on parole, was living in his father’s home and sharing a bedroom with his girlfriend, Kristy McCullough, when officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department entered the bedroom to conduct a parole search. Both defendant and McCullough were present when the officers entered the bedroom. The room was messy and cluttered with furniture. Near the bed was a broken chair that was being used as an end table. The chair was partially covered with a blanket, and on the floor beneath the chair one of the officers found a loaded .357-caliber firearm in a nylon holster. The gun was a couple of feet from where defendant was standing. Defendant’s driver’s license was on a dartboard directly behind where the firearm was found. No additional ammunition was located in the bedroom nor were there any usable fingerprints found on the gun. At the time of the search, McCullough denied knowing anything about the firearm, but later told defense counsel and counsel’s investigator that the gun belonged to her. McCullough initially did not admit ownership of the gun because she had legal troubles in the past regarding a drug problem. McCullough claimed that a couple of weeks before the search she had bought the gun from an old friend as a gift for her father who lived in Oregon. McCullough initially kept the gun at another friend’s home because defendant had told her not to bring firearms into the house due to his being on parole. Nevertheless, a few days before the search, McCullough retrieved the gun from her friend and hid it under the chair, intending to give it to her brother whom she expected to come by on his way back to Oregon.