People v. Rivera CA5

Filed 8/31/23 P. v. Rivera CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

THE PEOPLE, F086017 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. BF171412A) v.

JONATHAN RIVERA, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Kern County. Elizabet Rodriguez, Judge. Laura Arnold, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the State Attorney General, Sacramento, California, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Hill, P. J., Franson, J. and Smith, J.

INTRODUCTION In 2021, appellant and defendant Jonathan Rivera (appellant) pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and admitted a prior strike conviction, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. In 2023, the trial court denied appellant’s Penal Code1 section 1172.6 petition for resentencing. On appeal, appellant’s counsel filed a brief which summarized the facts and procedural history with citations to the record, raised no issues, and asked this court to independently review the record pursuant to both People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 (Delgadillo) and People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. Appellant submitted a letter brief and asked this court to review matters involving his plea. We affirm the court’s denial of his petition. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On October 10, 2018, an amended information was filed in the Superior Court of Kern County charging appellant with count 1, first degree premeditated murder of Veronica Medina (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189), with an arming enhancement and prior conviction allegations. Plea and Sentence On May 13, 2021, the court granted the prosecution’s motion to amend the information to add count 2, voluntary manslaughter (§ 192, subd. (a)), with an enhancement that appellant personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon, a knife (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)), and prior conviction allegations. Thereafter, appellant pleaded no contest to count 2, voluntary manslaughter, and admitted he personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon, a knife (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)), a prior strike conviction, and a prior serious felony conviction enhancement. The court dismissed count 1 on the condition the plea remain in effect.