People v. Yamamoto CA3

Filed 3/17/15 P. v. Yamamoto CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Placer) ----

THE PEOPLE, C075550

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 62117851)

v.

MATTHEW SCOTT YAMAMOTO,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Matthew Scott Yamamoto pleaded no contest to oral copulation of a person under the age of 18 (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (b)(1)),1 attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than defendant (§§ 664/261.5, subd. (c)), sexual penetration by a foreign object of a person under the age of 18 (§ 289, subd. (h)), and conspiracy to obstruct justice (§ 182, subd. (a)(5)). The trial court sentenced defendant to an aggregate term of four years eight months and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life under section 290.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

On appeal, defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion in ordering him to register as a sex offender for life. He argues there is insufficient evidence that registration “is necessary to protect the public” from his committing sexual offenses in the future. We disagree and affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND On January 14, 2013, defendant, a high school teacher, was charged with numerous counts of sexual abuse of two minors and other crimes. Defendant’s victims were both students at the school where defendant was teaching when the crimes were committed. The People charged defendant with two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 years of age (counts one and two), two counts of attempted unlawful intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than defendant (counts three and four), two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a person under the age of 18 (counts five and six), four counts of child molesting—two victims (counts seven through nine and sixteen), two counts of communication with a minor with intent to commit an unlawful offense—two victims (counts ten and fifteen), meeting with a minor for the purpose of engaging in certain lewd and lascivious behavior and going to the arranged meeting place (count eleven), dissuading a witness from reporting a crime (count twelve), attempting to dissuade a witness from giving testimony in a legal inquiry (count thirteen), conspiracy to obstruct justice (count fourteen), and violation of a restraining order (count seventeen). Defendant pleaded no contest to counts one, three, five, and fourteen. In exchange, the remaining charges were dismissed with a Harvey waiver.2 Prior to sentencing, the probation department (the department) issued a sentencing report (the department’s report) recommending a jail term equal to the time defendant had already served, five years of probation, and lifetime registration as a sex offender.