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People v. Lopez CA4/2 (2023) · DecisionDepot
/ California Court of Appeal People v. Lopez CA4/2 Unpublished Filed 9/26/23 P. v. Lopez CA4/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, E081551
v. (Super.Ct.No. FSB21002426)
SARAH DEBORAH LOPEZ, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Ronald M.
Christianson, (retired judge of the San Bernardino Super. Ct. assigned by the Chief
Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.), and Cheryl C. Kersey, Judges.
Affirmed.
James M. Crawford, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and
Appellant.
No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
1
I. INTRODUCTION Defendant and appellant Sarah Deborah Lopez appeals the trial court’s
postjudgment order denying her purported motion to amend the judgment to show that
she was not directed to serve a term of parole upon her release from custody. Counsel
has filed a brief under the authority of People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216
More from California Court of Appeal Source: opinion data from the Free Law Project / CourtListener (public-domain court records). DecisionDepot is for informational use only and is not legal advice — verify against the official reporter before relying on any text or AI-generated summary.
(Delgadillo), requesting this court to conduct an independent review of the record. In
addition, defendant has had an opportunity to file a supplemental brief with this court and
has not done so. Because defendant’s counsel filed a brief raising no issues and
defendant was notified that failure to timely file a supplemental brief may result in the
dismissal of the appeal as abandoned and was given an opportunity to file a personal
supplemental brief but failed to do so, we may dismiss the appeal. Even if we exercise
our discretion to conduct an independent review of the record in the interest of justice, we
find no meritorious arguable issue and affirm the postjudgment order. (Delgadillo, at
II. BACKGROUND On August 24, 2021, an information was filed charging defendant with first degree
residential burglary (Pen. Code, § 459) with another person, other than an accomplice,
present (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (c)). The information also alleged that defendant had
suffered a prior serious and/or violent felony strike conviction (Pen. Code, §§ 667,
subd. (d), 1170.12, subd. (d)).
On April 18, 2022, pursuant to a negotiated disposition, defendant pled no contest
to the charge and admitted the allegation that another person was present during the
commission of the residential burglary. In return, the prior strike conviction allegation
was dismissed, and defendant was promised a two-year sentence with credit for time
served. Prior to pleading no contest, defendant executed, initialed, and signed a felony
plea form. Within the plea form, in relevant part, defendant initialed box 5b which
stated: “Any state prison commitment will be followed by a period [of] PAROLE of 3 to
4 years . . . . Any violation of the terms of parole could result in up to an additional year
in custody for each violation, up to a maximum of 4 years, 7 years, or life.” After
questioning and examining the plea form with defendant, the trial court found that
defendant read and understood the declaration and plea form, the nature of the charges,
the consequence of punishment, and her constitutional rights. The court also found that
defendant knowingly, intelligently, freely, and voluntarily waived her rights, that
defendant personally and orally entered the plea in open court, that there was a factual
basis for the plea based on the preliminary hearing transcript, and that the plea was given
freely, knowingly, and intelligently.
Defendant was sentenced on June 15, 2022, in accordance with her plea
agreement, to two years in prison with actual and conduct credits of two years. The trial
court deemed defendant’s sentence served and ordered her released from custody.
Thereafter, the court specifically directed defendant to report to county parole within 24
hours of her release “to go over all of [her] terms and conditions of [ ] parole.”
On May 8, 2023, defendant filed a written letter to the trial court indicating that
her judgment erroneously reflected that she was directed to serve a term of parole upon
her release from custody and that was not part of the agreement. Defendant sought to
have her “files” and minute order “updated” to reflect no parole as part of her plea
On May 30, 2023, the trial court denied defendant’s request to correct the minute
order. Defendant timely appealed.
III. DISCUSSION After defendant appealed, appointed appellate counsel filed a brief under the
authority of Delgadillo, supra, 14 Cal.5th 216, setting forth a statement of the case and a
summary of the procedural background. (See People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436
(Wende); Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 (Anders).) Counsel considered
potential issues on appeal but found no specific arguments as grounds for relief, and
requests that we exercise our discretion and independently examine the appellate record
for any arguable issues. Under Anders, which requires “a brief referring to anything in
the record that might arguably support the appeal” (Anders, at p. 744), counsel raises the
issue of whether the trial court erred in denying defendant’s request to correct the
judgment and sentencing minute order.
We offered defendant an opportunity to file a personal supplemental brief, and she
In Delgadillo, supra, 14 Cal.5th 216, the California Supreme Court held that
Wende and Anders procedures do not apply in appeals from the denial of a Penal Code
section 1172.6 postjudgment petition. (Delgadillo, at pp. 224-226.) Thus, we need not
examine the entire record ourselves to look for arguable grounds for reversal. (Id. at
p. 228.) Because defendant’s counsel filed a brief raising no issues, and defendant was
given an opportunity to file a personal supplemental brief but declined, we may dismiss
the appeal as abandoned. (Id. at p. 232.) “Independent review in Wende appeals
consumes substantial judicial resources,” and “[t]he state . . . has an interest in an
‘economical and expeditious resolution’ of an appeal from a decision that is
‘presumptively accurate and just.’” (Id. at p. 229.)
We, however, have discretion to conduct Wende review even when it is not
required. (Delgadillo, supra, 14 Cal.5th at p. 232.) Although this case does not call for
us to exercise our discretion to independently examine the record for arguable issues,
even if we exercised our discretion to independently examine the record, defendant’s
record of conviction shows that she agreed to a term of parole for a period of three to
four years. Defendant never objected to the term during her sentencing hearing and after
the trial court ordered her to report to parole upon her release from custody. Moreover,
“‘the length of a parole term is not a permissible subject of plea negotiations.’
[Citation.].” (Berman v. Cate (2010) 187 Cal.App.4th 885, 894 (Berman), quoting In re
Moser (1993) 6 Cal.4th 342, 357.) “‘[T]he court is authorized neither to determine
whether a parole period shall be served nor to prescribe its duration; that is the province
of the Board of Prison Terms.’ [Citations.]” (Berman, at p. 894, citing People v.
McMillion (1992) 2 Cal.App.4th 1363, 1369; People v. Renfro (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th
223, 232.) “As ‘there is no legal mechanism for negotiating a plea agreement
containing . . . reduced time on parole, the imposition of parole at sentencing simply
cannot be regarded as a breach of such an agreement.’ [Citation.] Parole periods cannot
be the subject of negotiations nor a condition of a final negotiated plea. [Citation.]”
(Berman, at pp. 894-895.) Therefore, even if by any stretch of the imagination the
negotiated plea agreement could be deemed to have incorporated a no term of parole
upon defendant’s release, the term would remain unenforceable. (Id. at p. 895.)
IV. DISPOSITION The trial court’s order denying defendant’s request to correct the sentencing
minute order and/or judgment is affirmed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
MILLER J.