People v. Holcomb CA3

Filed 11/19/15 P. v. Holcomb CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Tehama) ----

THE PEOPLE, C079047

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. NCR89904)

v.

RONALD LOY HOLCOMB,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Ronald Loy Holcomb pled guilty to felony possession of ammunition. Defendant also admitted to having two prior strike convictions within the meaning of the three strikes law. On appeal, defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his motion to dismiss one of his prior felony strike convictions. Defendant argues this abuse of discretion violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law and violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Finding no error in the trial court’s ruling, we affirm.

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On December 29, 2013, Tehama County sheriff’s deputies saw defendant standing next to the open door of a recently stolen pickup truck. The officers stopped defendant when he began to walk away from the truck toward “the back of a nearby apartment building.” After apprehending defendant, the officers determined he had a warrant for his arrest. The officers subsequently searched defendant and found a single bullet in his front pocket. Defendant claimed the ammunition came from change he received at a store he recently visited. When officers asked defendant about the stolen vehicle, he initially denied any knowledge of the truck, insisting he had simply been standing near it. This statement contradicted information provided by a woman the officers previously saw in the front seat of the stolen truck. The woman told the officers that she and a friend asked defendant for a ride, and he picked the two of them up in the truck, but got out just before the officers arrived. After the officers confronted defendant with the information gathered from the woman, defendant admitted driving the truck for a short period of time to and from a store. Defendant later renounced his admission and again denied any responsibility for the truck. Subsequently, the officers searched the truck and found numerous types of ammunition in the driver’s side door pocket, along with a plastic replica handgun. The officers also located a pack of cigarettes that contained less than a tenth of a gram of methamphetamine and found a baggie containing 19.75 grams of marijuana on the center console. Defendant was charged with unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle, possession of ammunition, and possession of a controlled substance. Each of the charges specifically alleged that defendant had been convicted of two prior serious or violent felonies under the three strikes law. Defendant pled guilty to possession of ammunition in exchange for dismissal of the two remaining counts. In his plea, defendant admitted the two prior strikes, one of which resulted from a 1990 conviction for attempted second degree