People v. Robertson CA3

Filed 8/19/14 P. v. Robertson CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C074507

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 10F05890)

v.

CURTIS EUGENE ROBERTSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant Curtis Eugene Robertson guilty of possession of child pornography and in bifurcated proceedings, the trial court found true defendant had three prior strike convictions. The trial court denied defendant’s Romero1 motion to strike his prior serious felony convictions and sentenced him to a term of 25 years to life. On

1 People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497.

1

appeal, defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion in denying his Romero motion. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND After identifying a user downloading child pornography files, including images of children, ages five to 13 years old engaged in a variety of sexual acts, California Department of Justice Special Agent Michael Sparks obtained a search warrant for defendant’s home. The search revealed two computer data drives and a CD. Defendant told the officers, “Everything is from the internet, Limewire.” Limewire is a program used for sharing and downloading child pornography, amongst many other things. On the computer, Sparks found 17 child pornography videos. Other files contained images of child pornography depicting children of both sexes under 13 years old in various sexual acts. One of the files had the name “Jenny” in the file name. That file had been played at some point on or before March 18, 2010. This video was part of a series known as the Jenny series, in which the victim was identified and the individual who produced the series was prosecuted. The CD also contained child pornography and another video file of Jenny. She was eight or nine years old at the time the video was made. There were also approximately 20 nude photographs of defendant in sexually explicit poses. When Sparks started defendant’s computer using a special program, the Limewire program finished downloading several files that were in the queue. The names were consistent with child pornography. Defendant had four prior strike convictions for rape by force or fear, sodomy by force or fear, oral copulation by force or fear, and residential burglary. Before sentencing, defendant filed a Romero motion to strike some or all of his prior convictions under the three strikes law. Defendant argued each of his four strike convictions resulted from a single prosecution, a single night of aberrant behavior. He contended other than a single parole violation shortly after his release from prison in 1996; he had no additional parole violations, arrests, or convictions until the current offenses. After his release, he