People v. Medina CA5

Filed 3/28/24 P. v. Medina 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, F086313 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 21CMS6109) v.

TOMMY MEDINA, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kings County. Kathy Ciuffini, Judge. Joshua L. Siegel, 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 Levy, Acting P. J., Detjen, J. and Smith, J.

Counsel for defendant, Tommy Medina, submitted a brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende), asking this court to conduct an independent review of the record on appeal. We offered defendant the opportunity to present his own brief by way of a letter. Defendant submitted a letter in response for this court to consider. Pursuant to Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d 436 and People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, we have reviewed the entire record. Consistent with our Supreme Court’s direction in Kelly, we provide a description of the relevant facts and the procedural history of this case. (Kelly, at p. 110.) Finding no arguable error that would result in a disposition more favorable to defendant, we affirm. PROCEDURAL SUMMARY In March 2023, the Kings County District Attorney filed a second amended information charging defendant with nine counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 years (Pen. Code,1 § 288, subd. (a), all felonies; counts 1– 5, 12–15), and six counts of forceable rape (§ 261, subd. (a)(2), all felonies; counts 6–11). The amended information also included a special allegation, applicable to all counts, that defendant committed the alleged offenses against more than one victim. (§ 667.61, subds. (b), (c), (e).) After waiving a preliminary hearing, defendant was tried by a jury in March 2023. The jury reached a verdict of guilty on all 15 counts brought against defendant, and, except for count 4, also found true the special allegation that defendant committed these crimes against more than one victim. On April 13, 2023, defendant received consecutive sentences of 15 years to life for counts 1 through 3 and counts 5 through 15. Defendant was also given a sentence of six years for count 4. The trial court stayed the sentences in counts 1, 2, and 9 pursuant