People v. Bowers CA3

Filed 9/22/14 P. v. Bowers CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Shasta) ----

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, C075744

v. (Super. Ct. No. 13F4846)

HAROLD LYNN BOWERS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Harold Lynn Bowers pleaded no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a spouse and admitted a prior strike conviction allegation. The trial court denied his request to dismiss the prior strike allegation (People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497, 504 (Romero)) and sentenced him to four years in prison. Defendant now contends (1) the trial court abused its discretion in denying his Romero request to dismiss the prior strike allegation, and (2) the minute order and abstract of judgment must be corrected to reflect the oral pronouncement of judgment.

1

The trial court did not abuse its discretion, but we will order correction of the minute order and abstract of judgment. We will affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND Defendant and his spouse attended a barbecue on July 27, 2013. They both consumed alcohol but left the gathering when defendant became upset that his spouse was not paying attention to him. At home, defendant punched his spouse six times, then grabbed a large knife and told her he would “cut” her if she fell asleep. He also held the tip of the knife against her knee. When defendant passed out, his spouse fled their home and went to a relative’s home where she called the police. An officer arrived and observed a lump on the spouse’s forehead and redness on her face. Defendant was arrested at their home. The spouse requested and obtained an emergency protective order. Defendant pleaded no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a spouse (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a))1 and admitted a prior strike conviction allegation (§ 1170.12): a 1996 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. In exchange, the remaining counts and allegations were dismissed with a Harvey waiver (People v. Harvey (1979) 25 Cal.3d 754), and another case (case No. 12F5462) was also dismissed. The plea agreement included a sentencing lid of four years in prison. The trial court denied defendant’s Romero request to dismiss the prior strike allegation and sentenced him to state prison for the low term of two years, doubled to four years for the prior strike. Additional facts are included in the discussion as relevant to the contentions on appeal.