People v. Dominguez CA2/8

Filed 4/29/16 P. v. Dominguez CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B267627

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. VA138898) v.

MARK ALBERT DOMINGUEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. Yvonne T. Sanchez, Judge. Affirmed.

Richard L. Fitzer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_______________________________

This is an appeal from a motion to suppress evidence. Court-appointed counsel for defendant Mark Albert Dominguez has filed a brief requesting this court’s independent review of the record under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). We affirm the judgment. An information filed May 7, 2015, charged defendant with two felonies: possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)), and possession of ammunition (§ 30305, subd. (a)(1)). The information also alleged defendant suffered two prior convictions for which he served prison terms. (§ 667.5, subd. (b).) Defendant pled not guilty, and filed a motion to suppress the evidence based on the presumed illegality of a warrantless search. The prosecutor’s opposition papers described the basis for the traffic stop during which the evidence was found (failure to stop at the limit line at an intersection (Veh. Code, § 22450, subd. (a)); defendant’s furtive movements and belligerence; the discovery of a firearm in plain view on the driver seat after defendant got out of the vehicle; live rounds found in the gun’s chamber and magazine; and the later discovery, during an inventory search of the car, of a black suitcase containing 355 live rounds of .22 caliber ammunition. The court granted a Pitchess1 motion and ordered two items of discovery to be provided to the defense. On October 8, 2015, the court held a hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence. Defense counsel announced that the only issue being contested was “whether [defendant] went beyond the stop sign or not.” Deputy Isidro Villasenor, a patrol deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, testified that on April 8, 2015, he was working in a marked patrol car in the city of Whittier. He observed a small, compact car going southbound on Crowndale Avenue, just north of Washington Boulevard. When the car approached the stop sign at Washington Boulevard, the driver stopped beyond the limit line, a violation of the Vehicle Code.