People v. Sarinana CA2/8

Filed 5/5/15 P. v. Sarinana CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B254012

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA403024) v.

ROBERTO J. SARINANA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Leslie A. Swain, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded with directions.

Katharine Eileen Greenebaum, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Stephanie A. Miyoshi and Nima Razfar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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A jury found defendant Roberto Sarinana guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)) and one count of carrying a loaded, unregistered handgun (Pen. Code, § 25850, subd. (a)). On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for Pitchess discovery.1 We agree and conditionally reverse the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The sole issue on appeal is the trial court ruling denying Pitchess discovery. We provide only a brief summary of the facts. In September 2012, two Los Angeles Police Officers were on patrol in an unmarked car. The officers themselves were in uniform. They noticed defendant jaywalking and impeding traffic. The officers drove behind defendant to initiate a “pedestrian stop.” The passenger, Officer Richard Amador, told defendant to stop so that Amador could speak with him. Defendant looked at the car, grabbed the right part of his waistband, and began to run. The officers followed in the car, then Amador got out to pursue defendant on foot. As defendant ran to the rear of an apartment complex, Amador saw him lift his shirt. Amador slowed and saw defendant “with his arm extended and a dark colored handgun going over a chain link fence that had shrubbery.” The gun was “just about to go over the fence”; Amador lost sight of the gun but heard the sound of metal hitting metal. Soon after, defendant stopped running and surrendered. Amador arrested defendant and did not find any weapons on him. When Amador’s partner, Officer Leonardo Olea, arrived, Amador directed Olea to the location where defendant had thrown the weapon over a fence. Amador and Olea returned to the location. Olea found a black semiautomatic pistol in a dirt area of the apartment complex yard. Tom Novak was visiting his in-laws in the apartment complex on the day and time of the incident. Novak twice heard a man yell “stop,” and he heard someone running. Novak went to the door and heard a loud “metal-to-metal” sound. He then saw a man run past the building, followed by a police officer. When a police officer later walked down