People v. Ward CA5

Filed 11/18/15 P. v. Ward CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F069432 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 13CM4942) v.

RANDALL WAYNE WARD, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kings County. Donna L. Tarter, Judge. James M. Crawford, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the State Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Levy, Acting P.J., Detjen, J. and Smith, J.

INTRODUCTION Defendant and appellant Randall Wayne Ward was charged with multiple offenses arising out of a domestic violence incident. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he pled guilty to one count of infliction of corporal injury on a spouse, in exchange for dismissal of four other counts and referral to the Kings County Collaborative Justice Treatment Court. Appellate counsel filed a brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY The facts are taken from the probation report. On December 27, 2013, Hanford police officer Dale Williams was dispatched to a residence on a report of a domestic violence incident. Williams met with the victim, defendant’s wife Sandra, who reported defendant began arguing with her, then went into the kitchen and flipped the kitchen table onto its side, while continuing to yell at her. She began taking pictures of defendant’s actions with her cell phone. Defendant became extremely agitated and grabbed the cell phone from her hand. Sandra’s son, Steven Williams, heard the commotion and came to investigate. Steven told defendant to “knock it off,” at which point defendant became enraged, dropped the cell phone he had grabbed from Sandra, then grabbed Steven with both his hands and began choking him. Sandra attempted to pry defendant’s hands off her son, but defendant punched Sandra in the face, knocking her back and stunning her.1 Defendant changed his chokehold on Steven, apparently increasing the hold. Steven’s girlfriend, Natalie Garcia, heard screaming and yelling and heard Steven state he was having trouble breathing. Garcia pulled out her cell phone and began recording the