People v. Hernandez CA2/2

Filed 6/25/15 P. v. Hernandez CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

THE PEOPLE, B255800

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA409469) v.

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Stephen A. Marcus, Judge. Affirmed. Lenore DeVita, 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, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Margaret E. Maxwell, and Eric E. Reynolds, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Defendant Orlando Hernandez (defendant) appeals his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition because, in his view, the trial court erred in denying him a midtrial continuance so he could try to recreate and photograph the vantage point of the police officer who saw him stash the loaded gun, which defendant claimed would help him prove that the officer could not have seen that act. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a continuance, and because our review 1 of the sealed transcripts of the Pitchess hearings reveals no error, we affirm defendant’s convictions and the resulting four-year prison sentence. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Some time after midnight on a day in late March 2013, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Roberto Ruiz (Officer Ruiz) spotted defendant and another man looking into a parked car. As soon as defendant and Officer Ruiz made eye contact, defendant grabbed his waistband and took off at a run. Officer Ruiz got out of his patrol car and chased defendant up a residential driveway. Defendant ran in front of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) with an open hood and paused for 10 to 15 seconds. Officer Ruiz took cover on steps cut into a cinderblock wall running along the left side of the driveway. From this slightly elevated vantage point, and due to the nearly full moon and a “bright” light affixed to the residence, Officer Ruiz watched defendant place a “shiny object” into the SUV’s engine compartment. Soon thereafter, defendant complied with Officer Ruiz’s demands that he put his hands in the air, and Officer Ruiz recovered a chrome revolver containing five live rounds from the engine compartment. The People charged defendant with being a felon in possession of a firearm (Pen. 2 Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)) , and being a felon in possession of ammunition (§ 30305, subd. (a)(1)). The People further alleged that defendant was on bail at the time of the crimes (§ 12022.1), that he had two prior felony convictions (§ 1203, subd. (e)(4)), and