People v. Nelson CA3

Filed 9/20/16 P. v. Nelson CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C079313

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 14F03928)

v.

ERIC JEFFREY NELSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Eric Jeffrey Nelson pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of a person. (Veh. Code, § 20001, subd. (b)(2) [commonly known as “hit-and-run”]; unless otherwise set forth, statutory references that follow are to the Vehicle Code.) He also admitted a prior strike conviction. (Pen. Code, §§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12.) The trial court sentenced defendant to an aggregate term of six years in prison. The court also ordered him to pay, among other things, restitution for funeral expenses in the amount of $5,000.

1

On appeal, defendant contends the restitution order was improper. We affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

The facts are taken from the prosecutor’s statement of the factual basis for defendant’s plea of no contest to the hit-and-run offense at the plea hearing, the probation officer’s report, and the police report. The probation officer’s recitation of the underlying facts is taken from the police report. Defendant concedes the police report is accurate, with two exceptions that are not relevant to the resolution of this appeal. At around 10:30 p.m. on June 15, 2014, defendant struck a pedestrian with his vehicle on Marconi Avenue in Sacramento after the pedestrian walked into the roadway. At the time of the accident, defendant was driving approximately 40 miles per hour. The roadway was not well illuminated and the pedestrian was wearing a long black coat, dark blue jeans, and black/red shoes. Following the collision, defendant did not stop; instead, he immediately left the place of the accident, parked his vehicle, and fled on foot. The pedestrian was later taken to the hospital and died about three hours later as a result of the injuries he sustained from the collision. On June 17, 2014, defendant turned himself into the police. He confessed to being the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, and explained that he fled because he was scared and did not want to get in trouble. He admitted that he looked at the damage to his vehicle and realized the pedestrian must have been badly hurt. Defendant was charged by felony information with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death to another person in violation of section 20001, subdivision (b)(2). It was also alleged that defendant had suffered a prior strike conviction. Section 20001, subdivision (a) states: “The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than himself or herself, or in the death of a person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and shall fulfill the requirements