People v. Torres CA1/1

Filed 2/27/15 P. v. Torres CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A142479 v. GABRIEL RUBEN TORRES, (Sonoma County Super. Ct. No. SCR-642073) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant was charged with two counts of second degree burglary. Following defendant’s plea of no contest to one count of second degree burglary and admission of a prior strike, the trial court sentenced him to state prison and ordered restitution. On appeal, defendant challenges the restitution award of $5,125, asserting there was insufficient evidence the claimed loss was the result of defendant’s commission of the burglaries. Because substantial evidence links defendant to the loss, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion and affirm the order of restitution. I. STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The following factual summary is taken from a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office investigation report received into evidence at the restitution hearing. On November 4, 2013, at approximately 8:00 a.m., Jason Passalacqua arrived at the residence owned by his father, Thomas Passalacqua,1 located on Mill Creek Road, to

1 To avoid confusion, we refer to Thomas and Jason Passalacqua by their first names.

compile a list of repairs to be completed before renting the house. In addition to the house, a garage and a large barn just south of the house were located on the property. When Jason arrived at the house, he entered through the front door which is always left unlocked. Shortly thereafter, he heard the sound of a car door closing and an engine starting up at the back of the house. Jason was concerned because the house had been burglarized several weeks earlier. He left through the front door, placed his dog in his truck, and grabbed his hunting shotgun. He then walked around the south side of the residence to the back where he saw defendant standing next to the driver’s door of a grey Chevrolet S-19 pickup and another individual, Jason Bulcke, sitting in the front passenger seat. Jason asked both men what they were doing there. Both responded they had been hired by someone in Fulton who told them to clean out the house and place the contents in the garage. Defendant and Bulcke also admitted they had been inside the house. Because Jason was unsure whether his father had hired a third party to clean out the house, he called Thomas, who stated he had not hired anyone. Thomas arrived at the house as Jason was calling the sheriff’s office. When Deputies Greg Quacchia and John Blenker arrived at the residence, Jason and Thomas, as well as defendant and Bulcke, were present. Thomas showed Deputy Quacchia several household items inside the garage which he said had been inside the house, including a mirror, medicine cabinet, rolls of carpet, briefcase, black lamp, two small wooden tables, and a wicker basket wrapped around a glass bottle. Next to the household items were a Stihl chainsaw, an orange-colored wood router, and four flat plastic boxes. Thomas indicated the tools did not belong to him and were possibly the property of Richard Ehrenreich, who rented the large barn on the property for use as a workshop. Quacchia, Thomas, and Jason entered the uninhabited house to check the interior. Thomas was last inside the house two days earlier. With the exception of a few items of miscellaneous furniture, the house was empty. Thomas and Quacchia found a dryer sitting in the middle of the doorway leading out to the backyard; however, according to Thomas, the dryer had been located against the wall near the door.