People v. Mafua CA3

Filed 2/19/15 P. v. Mafua CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C075769

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 13F00857)

v.

UAISELE FAKAAGA MAFUA,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant Uaisele Fakaaga Mafua guilty of carjacking (Pen. Code, § 215, subd. (a))1 and found not true an allegation that he personally used a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)) in the commission of the offense. The jury found defendant not guilty of kidnapping during the commission of a carjacking. (§ 209.5, subd. (a).)

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

Defendant was sentenced to state prison for the upper term of nine years, awarded 320 days of custody credit and 48 days of conduct credit (§ 2933.1), and ordered to pay a $300 restitution fine (§ 1202.4), a $300 restitution fine suspended unless parole is revoked (§ 1202.45), a $40 court operations fee (§ 1465.8, subd. (a)(1)), and a $30 court facilities assessment (Gov. Code, § 70373).

FACTUAL BACKGROUND Prosecution Case-in-chief

On January 28, 2013, around 11:00 a.m., 19-year-old Mozelle Chheo was seated in her car that was parked at the department store where she was employed. She was eating a sandwich before her shift began at noon. Chheo noticed a man, later identified as defendant, in the shopping complex. He drew her attention because he appeared “sketchy,” i.e., dangerous, and was looking for cigarette butts. After a few minutes, defendant came closer and asked Chheo if she had a cigarette and she responded, “no.”

Defendant then approached Chheo’s car. She tried to close the car window but could not do so because it was broken. Defendant put his right hand on the still-open window. Then he used his left hand to pull from his pocket a blue bandana wrapped around an object that Chheo believed to be a gun. Defendant put the object in the window and pointed it at Chheo’s face.