People v. Simpson CA4/1

Filed 5/11/22 P. v. Simpson CA4/1 Opinion following rehearing NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

OPINION ON REHEARING

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D079474

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. C1653732) TEVINE TAJ SIMPSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, Socrates Peter Manoukian, Judge. Dismissed. Lori A. Quick, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Jeffrey M. Laurence, Assistant Attorney General, Catherine A. Rivlin and Bruce M. Slavin, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

As part of a plea bargain, Tevine Taj Simpson agreed to plead no contest to one count of using personal identifying information without

authorization (Pen. Code,1 § 530.5, subd. (a)), in exchange for receiving a 16- month lower-term sentence, to be served locally and with no postrelease supervision. But in December 2019, after Simpson repeatedly failed to appear in court, the trial court exercised the Cruz2 waiver incorporated in the plea bargain and sentenced Simpson to a three-year upper-term sentence (still to be served locally and without postrelease supervision). On appeal, Simpson challenges only the trial court’s imposition of the upper-term sentence. As we will explain, however, Simpson’s appeal is moot because he fully served his sentence as of May 2021, is not subject to postrelease supervision, and has not identified any ground on which we should exercise our discretion to entertain a moot appeal. Accordingly, we will dismiss the appeal. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Trial Court Proceedings In 2018, Simpson entered into a plea bargain under which he pleaded no contest to a single felony count of using personal identifying information without authorization (§ 530.5, subd. (a)), which carries a potential sentence of 16 months, two years, or three years (§§ 530.5, subd. (a), 1170, subd. (h)(1)). Under the plea bargain, Simpson would receive a 16-month sentence to be served in county jail, with no postrelease supervision. The deal also included a Cruz waiver that would allow the court to impose a longer