People v. Hohmann CA1/2

Filed 12/22/23 P. v. Hohmann CA1/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A167916 v. ROBERT CHARLES HOHMANN, (Napa County Defendant and Appellant. Super. Ct. No. 19CR003338)

Robert Charles Hohmann pled no contest to sexually abusing his stepdaughter, and the trial court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. His appointed counsel has filed a brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende) raising no legal issues and asking this court to independently review the record. Hohmann submitted two letter briefs. Neither his contentions nor our independent review of the record reveals any arguable issue warranting relief or further briefing, so we affirm the judgment, but we remand the matter for the clerk to correct a clerical error in the abstract of judgment. BACKGROUND Hohmann married Ashley L. in 2012. Ashley had a daughter at the time (Jane Doe), and after she and Hohmann married, they had two children together. Hohmann began to sexually abuse Jane Doe when she was 12 or

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13 years old. The abuse continued intermittently until Doe was 17. In 2018, when Doe was 17, Hohmann moved to New York. Later, Ashley, their two children, and Doe joined him. They all returned to Napa in 2019. Later that year, Doe disclosed the abuse. Hohmann was arrested. He admitted having kissed and engaged in genital touching, digital penetration, and later oral sex with Doe from when she was 12 or 13 until she was 17 years old. He claimed she had come on to him. The prosecution charged Hohmann with nine felony counts—four counts of forcible lewd acts on a child (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (b)(1); undesignated statutory citations are to this code), one of aggravated sexual assault of a child by oral copulation (§ 269, subd. (a)(4)), and two each of forcible oral copulation of a minor age 14 or over (§ 287, subd. (c)(2)(C)) and sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor age 14 or over (§ 289, subd. (a)(1)(C)). Most of the counts involved force, duress or fear, and they carried a potential total sentence of 95 years to life. Shortly before the preliminary hearing date, the parties informed the court they had reached a plea bargain, the prosecution sought to file a second amended complaint, and Hohmann wished to bring a motion to replace his counsel. (See People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (Marsden).) The trial court held a Marsden hearing. Hohmann said he had never felt confident in or comfortable with his public defender, and the nature of the case led him to prefer a male attorney. Asked what his attorney should have done differently, he said she declined to use information about his story in plea negotiations. He emphasized he had not used force or coercion on Doe, had “tried to escape” the situation by moving to New York, and should thus be able to get a sentence of less than the 20 years provided by the plea bargain.