People v. Martin CA3

Filed 8/5/14 P. v. Martin CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Yuba) ----

THE PEOPLE, C074382

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CRF11668)

v.

JAIME LEE MARTIN,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Jaime Lee Martin appeals from an order of the Yuba County Superior Court directing him to pay, jointly and severally with Joseph Bunnell and Jaspant Johl, $567,560 restitution for damages done to an electrical transformer during two separate acts of vandalism. Defendant contends the award was an abuse of the court’s discretion because it included payment for damages for which he was not responsible. We agree and shall remand the matter for further proceedings.

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FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On August 14, 2011, Bunnell and Johl broke into a building housing a transformer belonging to Steve Jacobs and severely damaged it in the course of stealing some of its copper wiring. They were prosecuted, convicted, and ordered to pay restitution. On December 6, 2011, before the amount of restitution in Bunnell and Johl’s case could be determined, defendant and an accomplice burglarized the same structure and further damaged the transformer. They were caught in the act by Yuba County deputies and arrested. Inside the structure the deputies found 20 pounds of cut copper wire and tools including jacks, pry bars, saws, and cutters, on which defendant admitted his fingerprints would be found. Defendant pleaded no contest to second degree burglary, was granted probation, and was ordered to pay restitution. Because the same transformer was the subject of both break-ins, the parties agreed defendant would join in the restitution hearing set for Bunnell and Johl, and defendant was ordered to appear for that hearing. The restitution hearing commenced on October 25, 2012, however defendant failed to appear. Considering defendant to have voluntarily absented himself, the court went forward with the restitution hearing for just Bunnell and Johl. At the conclusion of the hearing the court determined Bunnell and Johl, jointly and severally, owed Jacobs $567,560, which included costs for a new transformer, its shipping and installation, and lost wages for Jacobs. On May 28, 2013, the trial court conducted the restitution hearing in defendant’s case. The matter was submitted on defendant and the People’s written motions and the reporter’s transcript of the October 25, 2012, restitution hearing in the Bunnell and Johl case. The sole witness at the October 25, 2012, restitution hearing was Jacobs, who testified that prior to the August 14, 2011, break-in by Bunnell and Johl the transformer