People v. Garza CA6

Filed 11/17/15 P. v. Garza CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H042012 (Monterey County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. SS142903A)

v.

DORALYE ANITA GARZA,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Doralye Anita Garza pleaded guilty to first degree residential burglary (Pen. Code, § 459).1 Based on the burglary victim’s testimony, the trial court ordered Garza to pay $5,555 in victim restitution, including $3,000 to compensate the victim for an opal ring stolen in the burglary. Garza appeals that order, arguing the court abused its discretion in valuing the ring. We shall affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. The Burglary We take the facts of the crime from the probation report. Timothy Gillott arrived at his house in Salinas at approximately 4:00 a.m. on November 13, 2014. As he walked up the front steps, a red Suburban parked in front of the house sounded its horn. Two men and a woman ran out the front door of Gillott’s house. Gillott grabbed the woman and held her until police arrived. The men fled in the Suburban.

1 Unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.

The woman, later identified as defendant, initially denied any involvement in the burglary. She later admitted to probation that she broke into the house. However, she said that she did so alone and that she took nothing. The burglars had entered by breaking the glass in a side door and had ransacked the house. Officers found some items belonging to Gillott in his front yard and on his front steps. One item that was taken but not recovered was an antique opal ring left to Gillott by his deceased girlfriend. B. The Complaint, Defendant’s Plea, and Sentencing The Monterey County District Attorney charged defendant with felony first degree residential burglary (§ 459) on November 14, 2014. Defendant pleaded guilty to the burglary on November 26, 2014. At a sentencing hearing on January 7, 2015, the court suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on probation for three years. The court imposed various probation conditions, including that defendant serve one year in county jail and pay victim restitution in an amount determined by the court. C. Victim Restitution Gillott requested $5,555 in victim restitution to compensate him for items broken and stolen in the burglary, including the ring that had belonged to his deceased girlfriend. The parties stipulated to a minimum restitution amount of $2,555. Defendant requested a restitution hearing regarding the antique opal ring, which Gillott valued at $3,000. At the restitution hearing, Gillott testified that his girlfriend had inherited an opal ring, which became his property when she died. The ring was stolen in the November 2014 burglary. Gillott testified that the opal was the size of a “big peanut” and “might have been what’s called a fire opal.” He “guess[ed]” that the stone was in a gold setting, noting he had not looked at the ring in 25 years. Gillott researched similarly sized opal rings on the Internet to determine the ring’s value. His research revealed a range of prices for similar rings, from approximately $2,000 to $10,000. He valued the ring at $3,000 because it was at the low end of that price range. 2