People v. Hemati CA4/3

Filed 7/29/15 P. v. Hemati 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, G050071 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. M15269) v. OPINION HOOTAN HEMATI,

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Richard M. King, Judge. Affirmed. Rich Pfeiffer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, William M. Wood and Meagan J. Beale, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

Defendant Hootan Hemati appeals from the court’s denial of his petition for 1 a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon. (Pen. Code, § 4852.01 et seq.) We affirm the order. Because defendant was convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana during his rehabilitation period, the court did not abuse its discretion by denying his petition.

FACTS

Defendant’s Petition for Rehabilitation and Pardon On January 31, 2014, defendant filed a petition for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon (the 2014 rehabilitation petition), stating he had suffered (1) a 2005 conviction of commercial burglary for which he was committed to prison and then released on parole in 2006; (2) a 2004 conviction of commercial burglary for which he was placed on probation; and (3) two 2003 convictions for possessing controlled substances for sale for which he was placed on probation. Defendant attached his apology letter (addressed to the Orange County District Attorney, among others), in which he stated the following. When he was a community college student, he became addicted to drugs, “which was a main contributor to [his] convictions for crimes of moral turpitude.” He transferred to the University of California, Riverside, where he earned a 3.4 grade point average by the time he graduated in 2009. One week before his graduation ceremony in May 2009, after a party thrown for him by his friends for his upcoming graduation, he was stopped close to his house and arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana. “By seeking therapy, going to DUI treatment classes, and hearing the personal accounts of many[, he had] come to the