In re Dennis v. CA2/3

Filed 9/8/16 In re Dennis V. CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

In re DENNIS V., a Person Coming Under B265234 the Juvenile Court Law. _____________________________________ (Los Angeles County PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF Super. Ct. No. MJ22814) CALIFORNIA,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

DENNIS V.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Nancy S. Pogue, Temporary Judge.1 Affirmed. Torres & Torres and Tonja R. Torres, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Russell A. Lehman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

1 Pursuant to article VI, section 21 of the California Constitution.

Following a contested hearing, the juvenile court sustained a Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 petition, finding minor Dennis V. (Dennis) had made criminal threats in violation of Penal Code section 422, subdivision (a).2 On appeal, Dennis contends the order sustaining the petition was not supported by substantial evidence. For the reasons discussed below, we reject the contention and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Petition; Contested Hearing On October 24, 2014, a petition was filed under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, alleging that Dennis had violated section 422, subdivision (a) (criminal threats). At a contested hearing, the evidence showed the following: A. Prosecution Case On August 28, 2014, at about 2:00 a.m., 22-year-old John Colin (Colin) was walking home alone from his girlfriend’s house. Dennis, then 16 years old, and Mike G. (Mike), 17 years old, began walking behind Colin. Dennis and Mike asked Colin where he was going and whether he would buy them “some wraps from the 7-Eleven.”3 Colin responded “very minimally” and gave “basic responses” to their questions. Dennis then asked if he could use Colin’s phone; Colin refused. When Dennis and Mike neared Colin, Colin began to feel uneasy and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. As he did so, Dennis asked Colin: “Why are you reaching into your pocket? You don’t know if we have a knife or a gun.” Dennis added: “As a matter of fact, I do have a gun. It’s a .22, black and small.” Dennis then said either “I will use it to blow your head off” or “I could blow your head off right now if I wanted to.”