People v. Brown CA5

Filed 4/1/16 P. v. Brown 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, F069910 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. Nos. F14901624 & v. F12905552)

EDWARD BROWN, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Jane Cardoza, Judge. Michael B. McPartland, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Kathleen A. McKenna and Nora S. Weyl, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

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

INTRODUCTION An amended felony information filed on May 6, 2014, charged defendant Edward Brown with one count of assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code,1 § 245, subd. (a)(1)). The information also alleged defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury (§ 12022.7, subd. (a)), and had one prior strike (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), § 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)), one prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)), and one prior prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). On May 12, 2014, a jury found defendant guilty of the charged offense, and found the bodily injury allegation to be true. Defendant admitted to the remaining allegations. The trial court subsequently sentenced defendant to an aggregate term of 16 years in prison. On appeal, defendant argues the trial court abused its discretion by prohibiting defendant from introducing evidence of the victim’s prior convictions for impeachment purposes. We affirm. FACTS2 On February 13, 2014, Steve Taylor was searching for recyclables in a trash bin outside of defendant’s girlfriend’s apartment. As he did so, defendant opened the gate to the apartment’s yard area to let his dog out. The dog, which had previously bitten Taylor on the leg, attacked Taylor and bit his arm down to the bone. Taylor called for help, but defendant and his friends watched and laughed from a distance of 10 to 20 feet. Taylor was eventually able to escape the attack by climbing inside a nearby dumpster, at which time defendant retrieved the dog, placed it in his car, and drove away.