People v. Ryan CA4/1

Filed 6/28/24 P. v. Ryan CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D081952

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. Nos. MH118915, M279225) CHRIS STEWART RYAN,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Laura H. Parsky, Judge. Affirmed. Rudy Kraft, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. Chris Stewart Ryan has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh. Code, §§ 23152, subd. (a); 23152, subd. (b)). He was found not competent to stand trial. Ryan later brought a motion to be found competent and to dismiss the criminal charges. The court denied the motion. Ryan filed a timely notice of appeal.

Appellate counsel has filed a brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende) indicating counsel has not been able to identify any arguable issues for reversal on appeal. Counsel asks the court to independently review the record for error as mandated by Wende. We offered Ryan the opportunity to file his own brief on appeal, but he has not responded. Appellate counsel provided a summary of the factual material considered by the court in finding Ryan still not competent to stand trial and denying the motion to dismiss. The facts of the underlying offense are not relevant to the resolution of this appeal. We will incorporate that summary here to provide background information. According to the competency report prepared by Sandeep Jouhal, M.D., filed October 18, 2022, on December 26, 2021, Ryan was allegedly involved in a collision with a sidewalk tree and his vehicle. When he was removed from the vehicle they detected a strong order of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and difficulty sitting on the curb. Ryan engaged in the field sobriety test but refused to participate in the alphabet test. Dr. Jouhal sought to interview Ryan, but Ryan declined to participate in the interview because he did not believe it would be beneficial to his case since he was going to plead not guilty. He did not appear to understand the doctor’s explanation of the benefits of participating and stated, “[T]here are people following me, . . . eye[s] on me, following me on my electronic devices. I don’t know where they are coming from. Last night they changed my playlist to shuffle and started playing songs they wanted me to hear.” He provided Dr. Jouhal with paperwork, which Dr. Jouhal characterized as demonstrating that Ryan did not have a rational understanding of the charges against him and the court’s proceeding.