People v. Morales CA2/8

Filed 3/28/24 P. v. Morales CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B330561

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA509579 v.

FRANK MORALES,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ray G. Jurado, Judge. Affirmed. James R. Bostwick, 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, Zee Rodriguez, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and John Yang, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

Frank Morales told store employees “I’m going to get a pistol and come back.” In context, these words sufficed to support his probation revocation because they put enough fear into one of the employees to count as a criminal threat. We affirm. Statutory citations are to the Penal Code. Morales pleaded no contest to assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(4)) and was on probation for two years with a suspended term of three years. After about a month on probation, Morales entered a CVS store. He seemed to be drunk. The store had a restraining order against him. When Morales tried to buy liquor, employee Sergio Lozano told Morales the store was not allowed to sell him liquor. Morales told Lozano, “Mother fucker, just tell [the cashier] to sell it to me.” Morales again asked to buy the liquor. The cashier did not remember his exact phrasing “but it was not that nice.” Morales used “bad words.” “And he started getting louder and just arguing more, so I asked him to go[,] . . . to leave the store.” “As soon as we said, ‘no,’ [Morales] just became more and more aggressive and very loud in the store.” Lozano told Morales, “You know, we can’t sell it to you.” Morales pointed at Lozano, and said, “You’re next. You’re next. You’re next. You’re next, you mother fucker.” Morales did not look angry; “he just looked very serious.” The cashier took these words as a threat. A security guard asked Morales to go outside. Outside, Morales told the guard he was going to come back with a pistol.