People v. Phillips CA1/4

Filed 9/29/21 P. v. Phillips CA1/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A160393 v. (Lake County Super. Ct. ALONZO DEWITT PHILLIPS, No. CR952433) Defendant and Appellant.

I. BACKGROUND Alonzo Dewitt Phillips is 53 years old and has been convicted of multiple felonies in the course of a long criminal history. He is also a partially blind amputee with a heart condition. Phillips was 18 years old when he was convicted of committing his first strike in 1986, as defined in the “Three Strikes” law, Penal Code section 667, subdivisions (b) through (i) and section 1170.12.1 He received a two-year prison term. Shortly after his release, Phillips was again convicted, this time for oral copulation with a child under age 14 (see former § 288a, subd. (c)) and for rape by force (§ 261, subd. (a)(2)). Phillips was subsequently sentenced to 19 years in prison.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

Turning to the current offense, in 2018 officers from the Clearlake Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office evicted Phillips from the recreational vehicle (RV) on the property where he was living. A records check revealed that Phillips was required to register as a sex offender and was on active probation in Napa County. At the time, Phillips was registered as a transient. The property owner told the officers that Phillips had been living on the property for at least five months. The officers detained Phillips and subsequently searched the RV. Approaching the vehicle, an officer observed several canines which appeared to be starving. There were also other dogs running around the property which were underweight, dirty, and unvaccinated. The search of the RV also revealed two methamphetamine smoking pipes and a plastic bag containing 3.7 grams of methamphetamine. A year later the Lake County District Attorney filed an information charging Phillips with unlawfully depriving a female pit bull of necessary sustenance, drink, and shelter (§ 597, subd. (b)), unlawfully possessing a controlled substance as a felon previously convicted of a sexually violent offense (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)), failing to register as a transient sex offender who subsequently moves to a residence (§ 290.011, subd. (b)), and unlawfully and knowingly possessing tear gas and a tear gas weapon (§ 22900). The district attorney further alleged that Phillips had suffered three prior strike convictions under the Three Strikes law (§§ 667, subds. (b)–(i), 1170.12), one of which was a sexually violent offense as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code section 6600, subdivision (b). After a negotiated disposition, the trial court granted the prosecution’s motion to amend the information to charge the animal cruelty count as a misdemeanor and dismiss the charges for possession of a controlled substance