People v. James CA3

Filed 6/30/15 P. v. James CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (San Joaquin) ----

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, C076350

v. (Super. Ct. No. SF125765A)

LOREN CURTIS JAMES,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury convicted defendant Loren Curtis James of driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)),1 driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or greater (§ 23152, subd. (b)), and driving with a suspended license (§ 14601.2). Defendant admitted three prior driving under the influence convictions within the

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Vehicle Code.

1

last 10 years, (§ 23550) and the trial court sentenced him to serve two years in state prison. On appeal, defendant contends the trial court prejudicially erred in admitting a prior inconsistent statement. We conclude the statement was properly admitted. Even if the statement was erroneously admitted, we conclude any error was harmless. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND On October 11, 2013, at around 3:00 a.m., Anurag Singh was driving southbound on Interstate Highway 5 when he looked into his rearview mirror and saw a car approaching from about 1,500 feet away. Singh saw sparks when the car drifted into the center median. He then pulled off to the side of the road and called 911. Singh was too far away to see if anyone was in the car, but he saw a shadow, later identified as a person, get out of the car and stand between the car and the barrier. He did not see what caused the crash and it was too dark for him to see if there were other people by the car. He could not recall telling an officer that the figure remained at the scene until the ambulance came. Singh also testified he was too far away to confirm whether the person remained at the scene. An officer testified that in an interview about 18 hours after the accident, Singh told him the figure he saw remained at the scene until the ambulance crew arrived. Ryan Pickard was a paramedic who responded to the accident that morning. He saw defendant standing on the side of the road by the car, which was blocking the northbound number two and three lanes. The car sustained moderate to severe damage to the front end and the driver’s side door. Both of the driver’s side wheels were off the car, along with severe damage to the front end and the driver’s side door.