People v. Vang CA5

Filed 7/12/21 P. v. Vang 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, F081482 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Fresno Super. Ct. No. CF97588086) v.

CARRY JOE VANG, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Arlan L. Harrell, Judge. Jerome P. Wallingford, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Levy, Acting P.J., Franson, J. and De Santos, J.

INTRODUCTION In 1998, appellant and defendant Carry Joe Vang was sentenced to 25 years to life for first degree murder, plus multiple life terms for attempted murder convictions and an aggregate determinate term of 59 years for enhancements, based on his participation in a gang-related drive-by shooting at two residences on the night of August 21, 1996, that resulted in the death of a three-year-old child and the wounding of three adults. (People v. Vang (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 554, 556–557 (Vang).)1 In 2020, after his case was final, defendant Vang filed a motion in the trial court and argued he was entitled to a juvenile fitness hearing based on subsequent statutory enactments because he was 16 years old at the time of the offenses. The court denied his motion. 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.) We affirm. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On May 8, 1997, an information was filed in the Superior Court of Fresno County charging defendants Vang, Kue Lao, and Chou Dou Yang, with count 1, first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187),2 with a gang enhancement (§ 186.22, subd. (b)), an enhancement for discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle with intent to inflict great bodily injury (§ 190, subd. (c)), and a special circumstance for discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle with the intent to cause death (§ 190.2, subd. (a)). In counts 2 through 12, defendants were charged with attempted murder; count 13, vehicle theft (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)); and count 14, willful participation in a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (a)), with gang enhancements alleged as to counts 2 through 13; that defendants discharged a firearm from a motor vehicle as to counts 1, 2,