People v. Ventura CA2/8

Filed 6/8/23 P. v. Ventura CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B318722

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA209530 v.

JESSE VENTURA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Mildred Escobedo, Judge. Affirmed. Vanessa Place, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Charles S. Lee and David E. Madeo, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

Jesse Ventura appeals an order denying his petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.6. In 2001, a jury found Ventura guilty of second degree murder of Joel Gonzalez. The resentencing case was at the evidentiary hearing stage, during which the prosecution needed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, Ventura was guilty under currently-valid law. (See id., subd. (d).) The court found beyond a reasonable doubt that Ventura was guilty under currently-valid law, and substantial evidence supports this finding, so we affirm. All references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified. I We grant the prosecution’s request for judicial notice of the appellate record from Ventura’s direct appeal (B155942) and his first resentencing appeal (B297443). (See Evid. Code, §§ 459, 452.) We use these records to recount the facts of Ventura’s case. Eyewitness Irma Gonzalez testified at Ventura’s trial. On September 27, 2000, she and her brother Joel Gonzalez were walking home from school. A blue car with three occupants approached them at about five miles per hour. Irma Gonzalez recognized the driver, Ventura, from seeing him many times at high school. The occupants stared at the siblings and passed them. Joel Gonzalez told Irma Gonzalez he did not know them. The siblings continued walking for about 10 minutes. The blue car parked behind a truck that blocked the siblings’ view. “[O]ut of nowhere” the three occupants, including Ventura, approached and blocked the siblings’ path. The person who had