People v. Powell CA3

Filed 7/23/21 P. v. Powell CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, C092459

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 17FE006076)

v.

JEFFREY DEWAYNE POWELL,

Defendant and Appellant.

After a jury found defendant Jeffrey Dewayne Powell guilty of five residential burglaries, the trial court denied defendant’s motion under People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497, to strike a prior serious felony conviction, and then imposed a sentence of 175 years to life in state prison. On appeal, defendant contends (1) the trial court abused its discretion in denying his Romero motion, and (2) his sentence violates his constitutional rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. We affirm.

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In late February 2017, police who responded to a suspected residential burglary in Elk Grove found screens removed from the windows of a home and shoe prints on the staircase. Defendant’s fingerprints were found at the scene. Later, a resident of the home realized that jewelry worth thousands of dollars was gone, and police recovered property belonging to the resident inside defendant’s backpack. In early March 2017, a married couple discovered they were missing multiple items from their Elk Grove home, including a digital camera, power tools, and credit cards. On a day when the couple left their house by 6:30 a.m., the home security system indicated someone entered the house at 7:11 a.m. and left at 7:30 a.m. Days later, defendant used one of the missing credit cards to purchase a video game system. Also in March 2017, a 15-year-old Elk Grove girl was alone in her house and getting ready for school when she saw a man standing in her bedroom doorway. The man told the girl he was a police officer, and left. The girl later identified defendant as the man who was in her home, both in a photo lineup and at trial. Later that month, an Elk Grove resident returned to her house to find several items missing, including a camera and a laptop computer. The camera was found later in a motel room defendant occupied. Also in March 2017, a man returned to his Elk Grove home after work and noticed that a window was open in a downstairs bedroom, and that a screen had been removed. He also noticed large shoeprints on the hardwood floor. Cash, a credit card, and jewelry was missing. Defendant’s thumb print was found at the scene. In May 2020, a Sacramento County prosecutor filed an amended information charging defendant with multiple counts of first degree residential burglary. (Pen. Code,