In re W.J. CA2/6

Filed 11/22/22 In re W.J. CA2/6

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

In re W.J., a Person Coming 2d Juv. No. B316006 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. MJ24919) (Los Angeles County)

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

W.J.,

Defendant and Appellant.

W.J. appeals the juvenile court’s order sustaining allegations of one count of vandalism (Penal Code, § 594, subd. (a)) and one count of battery (Id., § 242). (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 602.) He claims the evidence was insufficient to support either count. W.J. also contends we should strike his maximum confinement time because the juvenile court did not remove him from parental custody. We affirm the findings on the vandalism and battery counts but strike the maximum term of confinement.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Fifteen-year-old W.J. and two other boys approached a parked truck occupied by 68-year-old Gary Poindexter in the early morning of October 12, 2020. They repeatedly asked for money. He grew frustrated and told them he did not “have money to give away” and that they needed “to go get a job.” The boys did not welcome Poindexter’s advice. One sprayed an unknown substance into the truck’s cab. Poindexter grabbed a copper pipe lying next to his seat, got out of the truck, and swung the pipe at the boys. They dispersed but soon returned and began hurling bricks at Poindexter. One broke his truck’s windshield, and another struck his finger. Poindexter later identified W.J. as the one who threw the brick at the windshield. The People filed a Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 petition alleging W.J. committed felony vandalism and misdemeanor battery during the altercation. Poindexter testified as the People’s only witness. The juvenile court sustained the petition and placed W.J. on home probation. It found his maximum term of confinement to be three years and six months. DISCUSSION A. Vandalism and Battery Counts W.J. contends the juvenile court lacked substantial evidence to find he committed vandalism or battery. (See People v. Zamudio (2008) 43 Cal.4th 327, 357 [substantial evidence “is reasonable, credible, and of solid value”].) We view the evidence “in the light most favorable to the prosecution and presume in support of the [court’s findings] the existence of every fact [it] could reasonably have deduced from the evidence.” (Ibid.) “‘Conflicts and even testimony [that] is subject to justifiable suspicion do not justify the reversal of a judgment, for it is the exclusive province of the [juvenile court] to determine the