People v. Arendas CA3

Filed 5/31/22 P. v. Arendas CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Shasta) ----

THE PEOPLE, C091903

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 19F2943)

v.

PETER JOHN ARENDAS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Peter John Arendas represented himself at trial, after which the jury found him guilty of making criminal threats. The trial court sentenced him to three years in prison. On appeal, defendant contends there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction. We disagree and affirm defendant’s conviction. However, we agree with his alternative argument that the imposition of the upper term was improper in light of new legislation. We conclude that his sentence must be vacated and the matter remanded to the trial court for resentencing consistent with Penal Code section 1170, as amended by

1

Senate Bill No. 567 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2021, ch. 731, § 1.3) (Senate Bill 567).1 I. BACKGROUND Defendant faced a single charge of making criminal threats (§ 422) for his role in a confrontation with James, a security officer at Mercy Medical Center. On the day of the incident, James was called to the emergency room after staff reported that defendant was “acting out.” James saw defendant sitting in the lobby, speaking to some women. The women looked like the conversation was making them uncomfortable. When James asked defendant to mind his own business and not speak to others about their medical conditions, defendant became agitated. Defendant raised his voice and called James names. James testified that although he knew defendant was a patient, aggressive behavior is not tolerated under hospital policy. James asked defendant to leave and defendant refused. Defendant became more aggressive and angrier and James requested assistance from other members of the security team. Defendant repeatedly refused to leave, yelled, swore, and, at one point, took a threatening posture and moved close enough to strike James. When defendant finally agreed to leave, James and the security team followed him to make sure that defendant left the property. Defendant was “extremely irate” with a “complete and total loss of temper.” He screamed, yelled general threats of violence, and repeatedly threatened to kill the security staff and their families. As he left, defendant, holding a metal object in his hand, said, “ ‘I have a fucking knife,’ ” “ ‘I will kill you.’ ” James testified that once he saw that defendant had a knife, he believed defendant’s threats to kill him were real and he was fearful. The police later arrested