People v. Guereca CA4/3

Filed 5/26/16 P. v. Guereca CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G051188

v. (Super. Ct. No. 14CF3099)

LUIS RAUL GUERECA, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Dan McNerney, Judge. Affirmed. Frank Ospino, Public Defender, Mark S. Brown, Assistant Public Defender, and Jay Moorhead, Deputy Public Defender, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Arelene A. Sevidal, Amanda E. Casillas and Christen Somerville, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Appellant Luis Raul Guereca was convicted of a felony for unlawfully taking or driving a vehicle in violation of Vehicle Code section 10851.1 He contends the trial court erroneously denied his request to reduce his conviction to a misdemeanor pursuant to Proposition 47. Alternatively, he contends equal protection principles require his conviction to be treated as a misdemeanor. Finding these arguments unavailing, we affirm the trial court’s order. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In December 2014, one month after Proposition 47 was passed, appellant was charged in a felony information with unlawfully taking or driving a vehicle and receiving stolen property. (§ 10851, subd. (a); Pen. Code, § 496d, subd. (a).) The information also alleged appellant had suffered nine prior theft-related convictions and served eight prior prison terms. (Pen. Code, §§ 666.5, 667.5, subd. (b).) At trial, the evidence showed that on the morning of September 14, 2014, Santa Ana police received a call about “a stolen silver Acura that was being stripped” near 100 South Minnie Street. Officer Greg Beaumarchais proceeded to that area and saw a silver Acura travelling west on Pine Street. Beaumarchais stopped the vehicle and contacted the driver, appellant, who was the only person in the car. At that time, the officer noticed “[t]he steering column of the car had been torn away and the ignition was hanging from the column.” It turned out the car – a 1998 Acura Integra – had been stolen from a residence in Irvine earlier that morning. The jury convicted appellant as charged, and the court found the prior allegations to be true. At sentencing, appellant asked the court to reduce his section 10851 conviction to a misdemeanor pursuant to Proposition 47. Even though Proposition 47 does not mention section 10851, appellant argued the initiative was applicable to him to the extent it made the theft of property valued at $950 or less a misdemeanor. He also