People v. Villeda CA4/3

Filed 6/9/15 P. v. Villeda CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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). The opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G049883

v. (Super. Ct. No. 12CF3557)

JUAN CARLOS VILLEDA, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Lance Jensen, Judge. Affirmed. Marta I. Stanton, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland and Stacy Tyler, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

A jury convicted defendant Juan Carlos Villeda of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4); all statutory citations are to the Penal Code). The trial court found Villeda had suffered a prior conviction for attempted robbery, a serious or violent felony, within the meaning of the Three Strikes law (§ 1170.12, subds. (b), (c)(1); § 667, subds. (d) and (e)(1)). Villeda contends there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction. Alternatively, he argues the trial court abused its discretion in declining to strike his prior conviction. (§ 1385; People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497.) For the reasons expressed below, we affirm.

I FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On the evening of December 8, 2012, Jeremy Silva had just left work at a Santa Ana restaurant when he saw two men grappling and throwing punches outside a nearby bar. He noticed one man wore jeans and a gray sweatshirt and the other wore a white shirt. During the clash, the man wearing the white shirt ended up on the ground. About 10 minutes later, Silva heard someone in the parking lot of an adjacent grocery store scream something like, “Do you want some more shit?” Silva spotted a man lying on the ground, helpless and apparently unconscious. The other man kicked the downed man’s body three times, and stomped on his face twice, yelling “I told you” several times. Silva ran over, yelled, “stop,” and intervened to prevent further harm. The man on the ground, Jonathan Sanchez,1 was bleeding from his ears and had numerous cuts on his swollen face.