People v. Salinas CA1/2

Filed 3/10/16 P. v. Salinas CA1/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION 2

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A144491 v. ARTHUR R. SALINAS, (San Francisco County Super. Ct. No. SCN 222179) Defendants and Appellant.

INTRODUCTION The sole issue raised by defendant Arthur R. Salinas in this appeal is that the trial court erred in finding his prior Texas robbery conviction qualified as a serious or violent felony under the Three Strikes law. The Attorney General agrees that the evidence was insufficient to make that finding. We agree, and will remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Because this case concerns only one aspect of the court trial on prior convictions, we describe the rest of the facts only briefly. By information filed May 14, 2014, defendant was charged with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, and failure to register as a sex offender, along with special allegations and many prior strike convictions, serious felony convictions, and prison priors. A jury found him guilty of failing to register as a sex offender (Pen. Code, § 290,

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subd. (b))1 (count 3), and not guilty of forcible oral copulation and its lesser included offense. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the forcible rape charge, and a mistrial was declared on that count, which was later dismissed at the request of the prosecution. On October 21, 2014, the prosecution filed a first amended information alleging the same offenses charged in the May 14, 2014, information, but altering the prior conviction allegations. A court trial on the prior convictions was held on October 21, 2014. At the court trial on the defendant’s prior convictions, the prosecution moved into evidence as People’s Exhibit 28 the grand jury indictment, judgment, and waiver of rights form from defendant’s Texas conviction for robbery in 1975.2 This was the extent of the evidence on the 1975 Texas robbery conviction. Defendant argued that the Texas robbery conviction did not qualify as a robbery in California because Texas robbery law did not require that property be taken from the victim’s person or immediate presence or that the property be carried away. The trial court found that the prior strike allegation based on defendant’s Texas robbery conviction was true, and that this conviction constituted a strike under California law. The trial court also found true prior strike and prior prison allegations based on defendant’s convictions for rape and for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, both in Texas. The findings as to these convictions are not at issue in this appeal, and we do not address them further. On March 2, 2015, defendant was sentenced to serve 27 years to life in prison.