People v. Johnson CA2/7

Filed 9/8/14 P. v. Johnson CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

THE PEOPLE, B245460

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. MA054704) v.

JEFFERY L. JOHNSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Kathleen Blanchard, Judge. Affirmed.

Robert Bryzman, 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, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Linda C. Johnson and Robert M. Snider, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ___________________________________

Jeffery L. Johnson appeals from the judgment on his conviction and sentence of seven counts of second degree robbery in violation of Penal Code section 211 and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Penal Code section 12021, subdivision (a)(1). On appeal, Johnson contends that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in failing to conduct a Marsden hearing (People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (hereafter Marsden)), and (2) the trial court erred in denying Johnson’s Faretta request (Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (hereafter Faretta) as untimely. As we shall explain, the court did not abuse its discretion in failing to conduct a Marsden hearing because the record does not establish that Johnson clearly indicated he wished to replace counsel. Moreover, the court did not err in denying Johnson’s Faretta request as untimely because it was within the trial court’s discretion to deny a Faretta request made on the eve of trial. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. The Crimes Four incidents make up the seven counts of second degree robbery alleged in the information and amended information. During the first incident, Johnson entered a service station with a female accomplice on East Avenue K, and pulled out a gun while his accomplice took money from the cash register. Ten days later, Johnson and his female accomplice grabbed all the cash out of the register of a sex shop after demanding money from an employee. Nearly a week later, Johnson returned to the sex shop with his female accomplice, pulled out a gun, and retrieved more than $400 from the cash register. The fourth incident took place two nights later when Johnson and his female accomplice entered a smoke shop in Palmdale. Johnson held a gun to an employee and took money from the cash registers. The twosome then fled the scene in their car. During the robbery, witness Brittney Birkmeyer ran out of the store with several other customers. She got into a car with two friends and chased Johnson’s car for a mile or so until they were able to call the police and report the car’s license plate number.