People v. Pierce

Filed 3/6/15 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Butte) ----

THE PEOPLE, C077039

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CM038054)

v.

DEREK ELDEEN PIERCE,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Butte County, Kristen A. Lucena, Judge. Affirmed.

Richard Jay Moller, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Carlos A. Martinez and Marcia A. Fay, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

1

Defendant Derek Eldeen Pierce appeals following the trial court’s modification of an order requiring defendant to pay restitution to various victims. Defendant contends: (1) the trial court erred in modifying the restitution order without vacating the prior order to avoid duplication of the restitution award; (2) the trial court erred in imposing restitution for damages caused by a codefendant because the People explicitly waived the claim; and (3) if both or either of these claims is forfeited due to trial counsel’s failure to object, counsel provided ineffective assistance. We conclude: (1) the trial court did not err in modifying the restitution order because its modification superseded the prior order; (2) the People’s decision not to seek restitution relative to the codefendant’s car crash in the initial restitution hearing did not waive the victims’ right to seek restitution later; and (3) trial counsel was not ineffective in failing to object because such an objection would have been meritless. Therefore, we affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Defendant pleaded no contest to home invasion robbery (Pen. Code, § 211)1 and admitted he voluntarily acted in concert (§ 213, subd. (a)(1)(A)) with two other men, Marcus Jones and Christopher South, in committing the robbery. Jones and Pierce left the scene of the robbery in Jones’s car; South stole victim Karl Rauch’s truck and crashed it into a telephone pole, damaging the pole and a neighboring house, while attempting to evade law enforcement. Defendant was sentenced to state prison for six years. At the initial sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered defendant, jointly and severally with Jones and South, to pay restitution to Rauch in the amount of $539.57 plus interest, and reserved jurisdiction to set or modify the victim restitution. At that time, the People sought only restitution for Rauch’s out-of-pocket expenses related to medical bills, damage to Rauch’s house, and Rauch’s travel to and from the courthouse, but did