People v. Pena CA2/8

Filed 12/1/23 P. v. Pena CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B321600

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA496424) v.

BIANCA PENA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Norman J. Shapiro, Judge. Affirmed. Larenda R. Delaini, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Wyatt E. Bloomfield and Lindsay Boyd, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

**********

Defendant and appellant Bianca Pena appeals from her conviction by jury of two counts of felony stalking. Her sole contention on appeal is that her trial counsel was ineffective in failing to file a mental health diversion application pursuant to Penal Code section 1001.36. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY From approximately April 2020 through June 2021, defendant repeatedly harassed Ingrid M. and her adult daughter Raquel M. because defendant erroneously believed Raquel was seeing defendant’s boyfriend Moises (we identify the victims only by their first names to protect their privacy). Raquel, who was married, pregnant and in her early 30’s at the time, had not dated or been in contact with Moises since she was a teenager. Defendant made threatening and crude phone calls (sometimes multiple times a day) to both women, in addition to sending e-mails and messages through social media. At one point, she told Ingrid she was going to kill her and her unborn grandchild. Defendant told Raquel she needed to die and to abort her unborn child and that she had people watching her, her mother and her grandmother. Raquel was so frightened by defendant’s behavior that she moved to Orange County where defendant eventually tracked her down. Defendant also made over 150 calls to 911 that resulted in officers going out to the victims’ homes on false pretenses, and she made a false report to the California Board of Registered Nursing about Raquel, who is a registered nurse. After defendant’s arrest, she admitted to engaging in most of this conduct, but denied that she ever made any threats.