People v. Ramos CA2/8

Filed 11/6/15 P. v. Ramos CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B261608

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. MA061126) v.

CESAR RAMOS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Lisa M. Chung, Judge. Affirmed.

David Cohen, 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, Steven D. Matthews and Robert C. Schneider, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

__________________________

Cesar Ramos appeals from his conviction on one count of assault with a deadly weapon, contending that the prosecutor committed misconduct by referring to Ramos’s prior conviction for the same offense during closing argument and during his cross- examination of Ramos. We reject these contentions and therefore affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On the night of September 8, 2013, Freddy Pina and his family were attending a birthday party for Pina’s one-year-old great-niece at a park in Palmdale. Pina’s nephew, Erick Berios had gone to use the restroom. As Berios left the restroom, Pina saw three men surround Berios – Cesar Ramos, Noe Diaz, and Rafael Santana, all members of the Playboys gang. Pina went over to see what was happening and heard Diaz ask Berios where he was from. Pina told the three men that he did not want any problems. Diaz replied that Pina was in Playboys’ territory. Pina’s wife and another nephew came to investigate, but soon after a fight broke out between the two sides. Ramos hit Pina above his left eye with a beer bottle, causing a wound that required 39 stitches and leaving him with occasional double vision. Ramos, Diaz, and Santana ran off, but Diaz threatened to return with a “strap,” which presumably meant a gun. Ramos, Diaz, and Santana were tried jointly after each was charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon against Pina (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)), along with allegations that the crime was committed for the benefit of their gang (Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (b)(1)).1 The information also alleged that Diaz and Ramos personally inflicted great bodily injury for purposes of the three-year-sentence enhancement provided by section 12022.7, subdivision (a), and that Ramos had a prior