P. v. Bryant CA3

Filed 3/11/13 P. v. Bryant CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 (Yuba) ----

THE PEOPLE, C070414

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CRF11-437)

v.

JODY NICOLE BRYANT,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Jody Nicole Bryant pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (a)) in exchange for a sentencing lid of six years in state prison. The trial court sentenced defendant to the six-year lid. Defendant appeals her sentence making a single claim: the trial court failed to rule on the request for judicial notice she submitted in her sentencing statement. We affirm. BACKGROUND Defendant pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, a crime which resulted in the death of defendant’s boyfriend Jarrett Reynolds. Prior to sentencing in this matter,

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defendant submitted a “sentencing statement” to the trial court asking the court to grant defendant probation or, alternately, to impose the low term of three years in state prison. Attached to that statement were numerous letters and a psychological evaluation of defendant authored by Philip. S. Trompetter, Ph.D., ABPP. In his evaluation, Dr. Trompetter noted defendant had been gang-raped in high school, was molested when she was a small child, and been forced into anal sex with the decedent. Dr. Trompetter also noted defendant had a significant history of substance abuse, including alcohol, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Dr. Trompetter diagnosed defendant with major depressive disorder with recurrent episodes of severe depression, and symptoms consistent with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the gang rape and molestation. He also concluded defendant met the criteria for polysubstance dependence (alcohol and marijuana at the time of the report). With respect to defendant’s stabbing of the decedent, Dr. Trompetter opined that defendant “expressed a reasonable fearfulness of [the decedent] based on his threatening and abusive behavior. She is chronically hypervigilant to threats to her safety based on her history of trauma and her previous experience with abusive men, including [the decedent].” Dr. Trompetter described defendant as “the perfect victim,” unable to navigate complex relationships. Defendant included in her statement the following request for judicial notice: “defendant respectfully requests the court to take judicial notice of the following Yuba County cases and any probation reports contained therein in the case of Jarrett Reynolds CRF06-706 and Adam Kelly CRF11-175. Defendant believes it is critical for the court to view the victim’s history of violence against women. Likewise, defendant believes it is critical for the court to understand that her PTSD is not mere affect[ation], but a documented condition in which the defendant has been the victim of a violent crime.” The records for which defendant sought judicial notice were not all attached to the request.