People v. Romero CA1/3

Filed 5/28/24 P. v. Romero CA1/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A167815 v. OMAR SANTANA ROMERO, (Napa County Super. Ct. Defendant and Appellant. No. 22CR001071)

In 2023, pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant Omar Santana Romero1 pled no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a person with whom he had a dating relationship and admitted inflicting great bodily injury. He also admitted his conduct fell within five aggravating sentencing factors. The trial court sentenced him to the middle term of three years in prison for the offense, and it struck the punishment for the enhancement. On appeal, he argues the court erred by failing to treat the low-term sentence as presumptive given evidence that his childhood trauma contributed to the commission of the offense. (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (b)(6).) We affirm.

1 Defendant’s surname inconsistently appears in the record as

Santanaromero and Santana Romero. We adopt the form used by defendant. 1

BACKGROUND Defendant and Jane Doe were in a dating relationship for five years. During that time, she estimated he assaulted her on at least 20 occasions; he put the number at 50 times or more. On May 6, 2022, she called the police and reported he recently assaulted her twice. When officers arrived, they observed “severe” facial injuries. Doe’s left eye was “nearly swollen shut,” “the left side of her face above her eye” was “black-and-blue,” her nose and right eye were bruised, and she had a carpet burn on her forehead. Doe described the assaults to the officers. She recounted an incident two days prior where defendant repeatedly slapped her. She curled into the fetal position to protect herself, but he forcefully pulled her off the couch by her hair and threw her onto the carpet. She lost consciousness. She came to in a different room, feeling “[e]xcruciating” pain “all over her face.” She believed he’d “kicked or punched” her. She asked him to take her to the hospital, but he refused. She also described an incident that took place earlier that day. She and defendant drove to a park to discuss their troubled relationship. Because he was not engaged in the conversation, she decided she would drive them back to their apartment. As she was driving, he grabbed at the steering wheel and attempted to steer the car into oncoming traffic; ultimately, the car crashed into a fence. She eventually drove them back to their apartment complex and told him she wanted to take a walk by herself. Nevertheless, he got out of the car and began following her. She asked him to leave her alone, but he continued to follow her and began insulting her. Fearful he would assault her, she took out her cellphone to call the police, but he grabbed it and began walking towards their apartment. She went to a neighbor’s home and used their phone to summon the police.