People v. Castro CA5

Filed 6/24/21 P. v. Castro 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, F080356 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Kern Super. Ct. No. BF173894A) v.

CARLOS CASTRO, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. Stephen D. Schuett, Michael G. Bush, and Judith K. Dulcich, Judges.† James E. Jones, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Hill, P.J., Levy, J. and Detjen, J. † Judge Schuett presided over the preliminary hearing; Judge Bush presided over and ruled on the motion to set aside the information; and Judge Dulcich presided over the change of plea hearing, the motion to amend the information, and the sentencing hearing.

INTRODUCTION Appellant and defendant Carlos Castro pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to the stipulated term of 12 years. On appeal, his appellate counsel has filed a brief that summarizes the facts with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) We affirm. FACTS1 On the morning of September 20, 2003, Bakersfield Police Department officers responded to Cardenas Produce and found Renato Morales, an employee, had been killed as a result of multiple stab wounds to his body and head. Morales was lying on the floor, and there was a large amount of blood around his body. There was also blood on the building’s interior walls and furniture. Morales had defensive wounds on his arms and legs. A witness reported that he saw Morales’s van being driven away just before his body was found. On June 8, 2018, the Department of Justice CAL-DNA databank notified the Kern County Regional Crime Laboratory that defendant was a possible suspect because of DNA matches at both the crime scene and on a vehicle suspected to be related to the crime. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On September 26, 2018, a felony complaint was filed in the Superior Court of Kern County charging defendant with count 1, first degree premeditated murder of Morales on September 20, 2003 (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)),2 with the special circumstance that he committed the murder while engaged in the commission or attempted commission of a burglary (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(g)); and the special allegation