1

Filed 2/3/15 P. v. Dobson CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication 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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

RANDY KENNETH DOBSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

E060270

(Super.Ct.No. RIF1202530)

OPINION

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Thomas Kelly, Judge. 

(Retired judge of the Santa Cruz Super. Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. 

VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.) Affirmed.

John F. Schuck, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and 

Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney 

General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton, and Christopher P. 

Beesley, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
2

Defendant and appellant Randy Kenneth Dobson pled guilty to arson of an 

inhabited structure (Pen. Code, § 451, subd. (b)),1 presenting a false insurance claim 

(Pen. Code, § 550, subd. (a)(1), presenting a false statement in conjunction with an 

insurance claim (Pen. Code, § 550, subd. (b)(1)), possession of methamphetamine 

(Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)), and possession of drug paraphernalia (Health & 

Saf. Code, § 11364.1). The trial court imposed the maximum it said it would consider, 

which was eight years in state prison. Defendant orally moved to withdraw his guilty 

plea, but the trial court denied the request. His sole contention on appeal is that this act 

constitutes an abuse of discretion. We disagree and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL2 AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 26, 2011, a fire broke out at a mobilehome owned by codefendant 

Lori Jo Alhadeff.3 The Riverside County Fire Department extinguished the blaze. 

California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention conducted an investigation in 

which it concluded that two people had been present in the residence prior to the fire . It

 

1

 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise 

indicated.

2

 Because defendant pled guilty at the preliminary hearing, no fact-finding 

proceedings occurred at the trial court. We therefore follow the practice of both parties to 

this appeal and derive our summary of the facts of the underlying offenses from the 

probation report.

3

 The People alleged against Alhadeff the same counts to which defendant pled 

guilty, although they also charged Alhadeff (but not defendant) with misdemeanor 

resisting arrest (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)). Alhadeff pled guilty to all counts alleged against her 

on the same day defendant pled guilty to all counts alleged against him. Information 

about her sentencing is not available in the record on this appeal.
3

determined that the fire was the result of arson. Investigators found a glass pipe often 

used for smoking methamphetamine, which contained a white crystalline substance.

Alhadeff claimed the pipe belonged to her friend, Randy.

Defendant, whom Alhadeff described as a “casual fling,” arrived at the scene of 

the fire on the day it occurred. When questioned by investigators, defendant stated he 

had been at Aldaheff’s residence the day before the fire but insisted he was only there for 

a couple of hours in the afternoon. He denied that the pipe belonged to either him or 

Alhadeff. He asserted he “wasn’t anywhere near” Alhadeff’s mobilehome when the fire 

began and was instead at a friend’s house playing ping-pong. After indicating that 

someone must have caused the fire but he did not know who, defendant told 

investigators: “More importantly, what’s going to happen with the insurance company, 

what are they going to say?”

In addition to appearing at the scene of the fire and speaking to investigators, on 

the day of the fire defendant also left “several urgent messages” with Alhadeff’s insurer 

indicating that her house had burned down but that she was “too upset to call.” 

Approximately an hour after an insurance representative told defendant she could not 

answer his questions because he was not on the policy, defendant and Alhadeff appeared 

at the insurer’s office to file a claim. Defendant gave the insurance agent a binder 

containing a copy of the policy; someone had already highlighted sections containing 

information about payouts, deductibles, and personal property. Defendant prompted 

Alhadeff to ask questions about valuing the claim at $554,000. He interrupted the 
4

insurance agent’s questions about the fire to ask, “You don’t know it’s not illegal to burn 

your own house down[?]” 

Suspicious of the fire’s origin, the People obtained and executed a search warrant 

for defendant and Alhadeff’s hotel room, as well as the latter’s vehicle and residence was 

issued. Among other items, officers seized “a document strategizing the insurance fraud, 

in what appears to be [defendant’s] handwriting”; glass pipes; a substance that later fieldtested positive for methamphetamine; correspondence between defendant and Alhadeff 

“detailing how to execute the plan to obtain the insurance claim”; and a binder and folder 

containing insurance paperwork. At some point during the investigation, law 

enforcement even discovered “a lighter engraved with what is believed to be the 

inception date of the arson scheme.”

Once in custody and Mirandized4 defendant admitted that he had helped Alhadeff 

with her insurance claim because she was “not very smart” and he had experience in 

handling similar claims because of a house fire. Defendant ended the interview after 

being informed that none of his answers would get him automatically released.

During the investigation, two of Alhadeff’s neighbors confirmed that defendant

had been at their house until shortly before the fire broke out. Approximately two weeks 

after the fire, defendant asked them to sign a letter stating that he was at their residence 

until three hours after they say he left. The neighbors declined the request.

 

4

 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda).
5

The People initiated this case against defendant and Alhadeff on June 6, 2012. At 

the preliminary hearing on March 1, 2013, defendant entered a plea of guilty on all 

counts. Defendant executed a plea form explicitly stating that the maximum sentence he 

could serve was 11 years two months, that his entitlement to formal probation would be 

“decided by the court,” and the term he would serve in custody would not exceed eight 

years in state prison. 

At the beginning of the hearing, the trial court stated: “I indicated a[n] eight-year 

maximum sentence for the two defendants, and just where it would be, I don’t know. I 

need to find out more about each of you. I’d be wanting a probation report and hear from 

all the attorneys, including the prosecutor, to decide what’s appropriate.” RT 1.} When 

the court first asked defendant if there were “[a]ny other threats or promises other than 

that?” he initially replied, “Yes, sir.” The court then repeated the question, which 

defendant answered with, “No, sir. No, sir.” Defendant told the court that he had a 

“clear mind” and understood what was happening, he understood that a conviction would 

violate any probation or parole from previous cases, and he had no questions about the 

plea form he had executed. When the prosecutor asked if he had committed the acts 

alleged in each count, he answered, “Yes.” In defendant’s presence, the trial court, the 

prosecutor, and defense counsel discussed his maximum sentence if he were convicted 

after trial and agreed that, as the plea form stated, it was just over 11 years. The court 

again indicated that eight years was its “theoretical maximum” and explained that “if [it 

was] to back off from that, feel more than eight years was required, [defendant] would 

have the right to withdraw [his] plea.” When asked if he understood, defendant said 
6

simply, “Yes, Your Honor.” Next, the court asked, “Given our discussion, how do you 

plead, Mr. Dobson, to each of these counts?” Again without questions or caveats, 

defendant answered, “Guilty, Your Honor.”

After taking defendant’s plea at the preliminary hearing, the court set sentencing 

for May 17, 2013. Defendant did not appear, and a bench warrant issued. 

On June 12, 2013, the trial court filed a letter5 defendant had written to the trial 

judge indicating that he had not appeared “because this case has been packed with police 

misconduct and attorney misconduct and would have sent me straight to prison where [he 

would be] unable to fight for what is true and correct.” He then asserted that defense 

counsel promised him probation, with no more than one year in jail if he pled guilty, and 

that “state prison ha[d] been removed from the table.” Because counsel allegedly lied to 

the court when discussing the terms to which defendant agreed, defendant accused him of 

committing perjury. He also told the judge “it makes no sense” that he would plead 

guilty “unless something fantastic was on the table” and suggested that he could be found 

guilty of no more than liability for “accessory after the fact,” a misdemeanor, because he 

was not at the scene of the crime. 

In the letter, defendant requested “some means by which [he could] address the 

court without fear of incarceration prior to having been heard,” and he indicated he would 

 

5

 The letter is curiously dated May 16, 2013, which was the day before the 

sentencing hearing, but it states that defendant failed to appear “last Friday.” The record 

on appeal contains no explanation for this discrepancy, resolution of which is irrelevant 

to the issues on appeal.
7

“comply with any request your honor should make of [him].” The trial court took no 

action on the letter, other than to have it retained in the file in case it became relevant. 

The parties appeared for sentencing on September 25, 2013. The record on appeal 

does not indicate why, but the court set a hearing for a Marsden6 motion to replace 

appointed defense counsel for October 3, 2013. It also ordered, for the court’s own use, a 

transcript of the hearing at which defendant changed his plea.

On October 3, 2013, the trial court began proceedings by stating, “This is a 

Marsden hearing.” Defense counsel explained that he and his client were present because 

defendant had indicated “he wished to explore withdrawing his plea” on the ground of 

ineffective assistance of counsel. Therefore, counsel “felt it was [his] duty and obligation 

to notify the Court of that concern that Mr. Dobson had and to ask the Court to schedule a 

Marsden/Sanchez[7] hearing, and that’s why we’re here today.” 

The floor then belonged to defendant, who gave several pages of testimony about 

his dissatisfaction with counsel’s handling of the case. He repeated the accusation from 

his earlier letter to the trial judge that defense counsel had actually promised him only 

“365 days in county jail with half,” which counsel said the judge, who was “the most 

lenient . . . in the building,” would probably waive. According to defendant, “those were 

 

6

 People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (Marsden).

7

 People v. Sanchez (2011) 53 Cal.4th 80, 84 (Sanchez) (trial court must conduct 

Marsden hearing when defendant provides “some clear indication” that he wishes to 

substitute appointed counsel in conjunction with a claim that existing counsel offered 

inadequate assistance in connection with a guilty plea).
8

the exact terms,” and counsel “would be committing perjury” if he stated otherwise;8in 

fact, defendant offered to undergo a polygraph examination to prove his own veracity.

Defendant complained that he did not have his eyeglasses at the preliminary hearing, but 

that defense counsel assured him that he should sign the plea form, anyway, because it 

simply offered what had been promised. Defendant also alleged that he had been 

“granted just minutes to decide [his] fate[]” and suggested it “was completely without 

feasibility” that he “would knowingly, nor would anyone, in [his] opinion, plead guilty on 

all counts, decide in a matter of minutes to do so, and sign literally blindly a plea 

agreement form that for all intents and purposes would guarantee . . . a minimum of five 

years in state prison.” 

Defendant’s testimony began with his version of what defense counsel told him 

the plea agreement was, and in the course of his statements he hypothesized that Alhadeff 

would agree to his suggestion about conducting a bench trial, “as she would also be 

granted the right to change her plea to not guilty.” Defendant also made statements 

indicating that he wished to have “the opportunity” to change his plea. 

Defendant lodged complaints about counsel’s representation that were unrelated to 

the plea agreement, such as that counsel refused to address the allegation that the lead fire 

department investigator had committed perjury in a warrant application, that he failed to 

attend defendant’s presentencing interview with the probation officer, and that his 

 

8

 In fact, defendant accused the entire Public Defender’s office of conspiring to 

railroad defendants into taking bad deals and invited the trial court “to investigate the last 

two or 300 cases” from that office in order to uncover “a pattern of this type of 

deception.”
9

requests to see discovery went unanswered. In addition, defendant leveled accusations 

against his probation officer. The vast majority of his speech, though, centered around 

the circumstances of his pleading guilty.

After defendant finished talking, the trial court again directed its attention to 

defense counsel. Before counsel could respond, the trial court interrupted to say that it 

had read the transcript from the preliminary hearing and confirmed that it had given no 

more than a promise that defendant’s confinement, if any, had not yet been determined 

but would not exceed eight years. After a brief recess and an opportunity to read the 

transcript, defense counsel agreed with the court’s assessment. 

Counsel then stated he “did want to address a couple of Mr. Dobson’s concerns” 

and began proceeding in chronological order. After addressing various complaints 

defendant had made about the representation, counsel read an email he wrote to 

defendant in which he explained that defendant could make a plea to court, that the judge 

was likely to provide a ceiling that the actual sentence would not exceed, that a probation 

report would probably be ordered, and that even after the report was provided the judge 

could impose the ceiling as defendant’s sentence.

After this testimony, defense counsel provided a lengthy description of events 

preceding defendant’s entry of a guilty plea. As defendant expected, his counsel said he 

had told defendant that there was no guarantee of probation, that the judge had made no 

promises other than that defendant’s sentence would not exceed eight years, and that the 

court would need to hear from probation before reaching a decision. Defense counsel 

also stated he told defendant that, even though he was something of a “derivative player,” 
10

there was “a lot of very damning evidence in the case” in the form of documents in 

defendant’s own handwriting establishing his role in the arson scheme. Counsel then 

testified that he “went over th[e plea] form line by line with” defendant, and that the form 

also indicated that the court would determine defendant’s actual sentence at a later time.

Proceeding chronologically, counsel next returned to responding to particular 

criticisms defendant had made about his handling of the case. He explained that he had 

intended to attend defendant’s presentencing interview with probation but could not be 

there because he was in trial. Counsel also provided a thorough9 account of his email 

correspondence with defendant about various topics not relevant to this appeal.

In the midst of this explanation, defense counsel also described email exchanges 

with defendant regarding the sentence he was likely to receive. In these, he told 

defendant that he would likely receive formal rather than informal probation, if he 

received probation at all, that he would likely receive one year of county jail time, and 

that he “need[ed] to prepare [him]self for the possibility” that he could spend eight years 

in state prison. 

Defense counsel testified that, in the weeks after this email conversation, he 

received letters from defendant indicating dissatisfaction with the quality of 

representation. According to counsel, this was the first time defendant mentioned 

wanting to withdraw his plea. Defense counsel perceived that defendant wanted to make 

such a request due to a belief that his representation had been inadequate, but counsel 

 

9

 In fact, the trial court referred to him as “the most thorough attorney in the 

building.”
11

also thought he had done a competent job on the case. Therefore, counsel “would not be 

bringing a plea withdrawal motion, because [he] didn’t feel that was reasonably 

meritorious.” Instead, defense counsel explained to defendant the procedure for 

withdrawing a plea and told defendant he had the right to make a Marsden motion, to hire 

a private attorney, or to represent himself as authorized by Faretta v. California (1975) 

422 U.S. 806 (Faretta).

The trial court then repeated that it had reviewed the transcript from the 

preliminary hearing and concluded that defendant received oral advisements that he could 

face eight years in prison. The court quoted its previous statements to defendant about 

how it needed more information before making a sentencing decision, and it read 

defendant’s answers to questions about whether he was knowingly and willingly pleading 

guilty. The trial court told defendant he had the burden of proving that his counsel had 

rendered inadequate assistance “on these Marsden motions,” that it had to make 

credibility determinations when “[it] do[es] these Marsden hearings,” and that it had 

concluded that defense counsel’s version of events was more credible. Before discussing 

scheduling with defense counsel, the court stated it was “denying the Marsden.”10 It 

made no explicit rulings on a request to withdraw defendant’s guilty plea on the day it 

considered defendant’s Marsden motion.

On October 4, 2013, the day after the above-summarized hearing, defendant filed 

a Faretta waiver. He appeared on his own behalf at a sentencing hearing on that date and 

 

10

 The minute order from the October 3, 2013, hearing also indicates that the 

court did no more than deny a Marsden motion.
12

requested and obtained a continuance “to research plea withdrawal.” However, the 

record on appeal contains no indication that defendant, once self-represented, again 

raised the issue of withdrawing his plea. 

The parties appeared for sentencing on November 15, 2013. The court started by 

indicating that it had put the hearing over so defendant could prepare. Defendant 

responded that he had been unable to “file a motion” because he had been denied access 

to the law library. He concluded by saying, “So I guess we just move to sentencing, I 

guess.” The prosecutor asked the court to reconsider its eight-year ceiling because, given 

that defendant had lodged formal complaints about investigators from the Fire 

Department and the insurance company in an apparent attempt to evade liability, “[t]his 

defendant is the most calculated, mischievous, and evil individual [she] ha[d] ever seen.” 

When the court asked if defendant had anything to say, he answered, “No. No response.” 

Defendant said nothing when the trial court imposed the maximum term it had offered, 

and he said he did not disagree with any of the restitution amounts. 

Near the end of the proceeding, the trial court advised defendant of his right to 

appeal. It then stated: “And, as you recall, I did get a transcript of the plea that we took. 

I wanted to make sure that the plea was appropriately taken. I was satisfied it was or I 

would have granted your request. But who knows? The higher courts may disagree with 

my call on that. So you’ve got that remedy if you choose to pursue it. Okay?” 

Defendant answered simply, “Yes.” 

Defendant, representing himself, filed a timely notice of appeal. The trial court 

granted his request for a certificate of probable cause. 
13

ANALYSIS

In the first section, we reject the Peoples’ contention that defendant forfeited the 

right to appeal the denial of a request to withdraw his plea because he never actually 

made such a request. The remaining section discusses defendant’s unsuccessful 

contention that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to let him change his guilty 

plea.

1. Defendant did not waive the right to appeal

The People argue defendant forfeited the right to challenge the supposed denial of 

his motion to change his guilty plea because he never expressly made a motion requesting 

such relief. They emphasize that defense counsel stated during the October 3, 2013, 

hearing that he would not file a motion to withdraw the guilty plea because he deemed it 

unmeritorious, and that defendant never made such a motion once he began representing 

himself.

The rule is that the denial of a motion is waived on appeal if the motion was never 

made or, if made, was never denied. (People v. Turner (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 1409, 

1412-1413 [motion not made]; People v. Brewer (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 442, 461 [no 

ruling on motion made].) While defendant’s counsel expressly disclaimed making a 

motion to withdraw the guilty plea because he felt it would not be meritorious, the vast 

majority of what defendant discussed when speaking to the court concerned the 

circumstances of his pleading guilty, and defense counsel spoke at length about his 

version of what happened in this regard. In fact, Defendant made the following explicit 

statements: (1) “With all due respect, Your Honor, if—it would seem that based upon 
14

these facts, my codefendant and myself should both be granted the opportunity to change 

our pleas to not guilty. We would then retain private counsel and proceed to trial, or in 

pro[.] per[.] if that’s appropriate”; and (2) “I would beg that Your Honor would grant my 

codefendant and myself the opportunity under these unique circumstances to change our 

pleas to not guilty.” Also, defendant’s letter to the trial judge requested an opportunity to 

discuss his concerns about his plea. 

As we indicated ante, the transcript from the hearing on October 3, 2013, was 

silent about whether the court would allow withdrawal of the guilty plea even though it 

denied the Marsden motion. At the next hearing, while representing himself, defendant 

requested a continuance to research withdrawing his plea, but he never made a formal 

motion regarding his guilty plea. 

However, when discussing defendant’s right to appeal the judgment, the court 

stressed that it had reviewed the “transcript of the plea,” determined “that the plea was 

appropriately taken,” and used that conclusion to deny defendant’s “request.” In 

addition, the trial court granted defendant’s request for a certificate of probable cause.

This act is in keeping with the trial court’s statements to defendant that he could appeal, 

and that “The higher courts may disagree with [its] call” on the taking of defendant’s 

plea. Because the trial court appears to have considered itself to have heard and denied 

an oral motion by defendant to withdraw his guilty plea, we see no reason to find that 

defendant waived the right to appeal by failing to move to withdraw his guilty plea or to 

obtain a ruling on that request.
15

2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion

Defendant contends he should have been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea 

because: (1) he only had a few minutes to confer with trial counsel regarding his charges 

and possible defenses; (2) his statement that he was not at the scene of the fire constitutes 

proof of factual innocence; (3) he did not understand the plea terms; and (4) he could not 

read the plea form because he lacked his eyeglasses. We hold the trial court did not 

abuse its discretion in finding that defendant failed to prove by clear and convincing 

evidence that either contention provided good cause to withdraw his plea.

Section 1018 allows a court to permit the withdrawal of a guilty plea “for a good 

cause shown.” “To establish good cause, it must be shown that defendant was operating 

under mistake, ignorance, or any other factor overcoming the exercise of his free 

judgment. [Citations.] Other factors overcoming defendant’s free judgment include 

inadvertence, fraud or duress. [Citations.]” (People v. Huricks (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 

1201, 1208 (Huricks).) In addition, a defendant who had inadequate time to discuss the 

consequences of a guilty plea with counsel may be able to show that he was “improperly 

induced” to plead guilty. (People v. McGarvy (1943) 61 Cal.App.2d 557, 563 

(McGarvy); see also People v. Chesser (1947) 29 Cal.2d 815, 820 [plea can be 

invalidated when the attorney who represented the defendant before entry of a guilty plea 

to a capital charge “has no knowledge of the facts of the case and does not counsel or 

advise the accused with respect to the charge against him”].) Of course, if a defendant 

has a valid defense to a charge against him, the defendant should be permitted to 
16

withdraw a guilty plea. (See People v. Ramirez (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 1501, 1507-1508 

[“any defense at all should be sufficient cause to permit a change of plea”].)

“However, ‘[a] plea may not be withdrawn simply because the defendant has changed his 

mind.’ [Citations.]” (Huricks, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th at p. 1208.) Rather, a defendant 

moving to vacate a guilty plea bears the burden of showing, by clear and convincing 

evidence, “‘[that] the ends of justice would be subserved by permitting a change of plea 

to not guilty.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Weaver (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 131, 146.) 

On a contested motion to withdraw a guilty plea, the trial court acts as the trier of 

fact and must judge the credibility of witnesses. (People v. Quesada (1991) 230 

Cal.App.3d 525, 533 (Quesada), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in 

People v. Totari (2003) 111 Cal.App.4th 1202, 1206, fn. 5.) “[A] reviewing court must 

adopt the trial court’s factual findings if substantial evidence supports them. [Citation.]” 

(People v. Fairbank (1997) 16 Cal.4th 1223, 1254 (Fairbank).) We will only disturb a 

trial court ruling on a motion to withdraw a guilty plea if we find an abuse of discretion. 

(Huricks, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th at p. 1208.)

In this case, defendant had ample opportunity to consider the terms of the deal the 

court offered him. He pled guilty nine months after initially pleading not guilty, and 

defense counsel stated that he and defendant “had discussed the case for months” before 

entry of a guilty plea Also, the trial court told defendant multiple times that he could 

serve up to eight years in state prison if he pled guilty. We see no clear and convincing 

evidence that defendant’s plea was insufficiently knowing and voluntary. Each of 
17

defendant’s specific contentions about his request to change his plea fails for reasons we 

set forth post.

We are unpersuaded by defendant’s contention that he lacked time to adequately 

consider the consequences of pleading guilty because he was only able to discuss the 

court’s offer for a short period of time. In so arguing, defendant attempts to analogize his 

case to McGarvy, but that case is distinguishable. In McGarvy, the defendant was 

arrested for murder on one day and arraigned on the next. (61 Cal.App.4th at p. 559.) 

On the third day, he appeared in court with an attorney and entered a guilty plea to the 

charge of manslaughter. (Ibid.) Ten minutes later, and after conversing with the attorney 

about the facts of the case for only 20 to 30 minutes, he was sentenced on his guilty plea. 

(Id. at pp. 558, 560.) The attorney he spoke with was not even appointed to represent 

him; rather, the prosecutor had asked counsel “to at least talk to” the defendant. (Id. at 

pp. 560-561.) The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to change his plea, and the 

appellate court reversed. (Id. at pp. 558, 565.) The appellate court concluded “that there 

was undue haste in the entire disposition of the case.” (Id. at p. 561.)

McGarvy is inapposite. Here, defendant, represented by a deputy public defender 

making a special appearance, pled not guilty at his initial arraignment on June 12, 2012. 

The attorney he sought to discharge via Marsden motion began representing him as of at 

least June 21, 2012, when he appeared at a settlement conference on defendant’s behalf.

This lawyer told the court during the October 3, 2013 hearing that he and defendant had 

had “months” to discuss the case before entry of a guilty plea. In addition, and as 

discussed ante in greater detail, the trial court gave defendant specific advisements about 
18

what his maximum sentence might be. Moreover, these advisements occurred on March 

1, 2013, nearly nine months after defendant’s original plea of not guilty. Unlike in 

McGarvy, there was no “undue haste” or improper inducement of a plea here.

Defendant’s assertion that he cannot actually be guilty of arson because he was not 

present when the fire started is also unavailing. “A person is guilty of arson when he or 

she willfully and maliciously sets fire to or burns or causes to be burned or who aids, 

counsels, or procures the burning of, any structure, forest land, or property.” (§ 451, 

italics added.) The People uncovered evidence that defendant handwrote instructions for 

Aldaheff to help her conflagrate her own residence, demanded a payout from her insurer 

even though he was not a beneficiary of the policy, and told an insurance agent that it was 

not illegal to burn one’s own house down. He even made clear to investigating officers 

on the night of the fire that the insurance company’s reaction was “[m]ore important[]” 

than the cause of the fire. Aldaheff’s statement to investigators that defendant was “mad 

at” her because of the investigation also implicates defendant in planning the insurance 

fraud scheme. Here just as much as in the trial court, defendant offers no explanation 

regarding why these facts do not implicate him in arson as defined by section 451. 

Defendant also makes no attempt to deny that he possessed methamphetamine or related 

paraphernalia. Even if he had offered contradictory evidence, the trial court was not 

obligated to accept as true his version of events. The trial court did not abuse its 

discretion in rejecting defendant’s claim that clear and convincing evidence showed his 

innocence.
19

Next, defendant’s claim that he did not understand the plea terms fails. To the 

extent defendant contends he thought he would only receive probation and a possible 

one-year sentence to jail because his attorney misrepresented the deal, we note the trial 

court made an explicit finding that defense counsel’s side of the story was better 

supported than defendant’s. Once again, we accept the trial court’s factual findings as 

true because they are supported by substantial evidence, given the transcript showing that 

the trial court itself orally advised defendant that he might not receive probation and 

could face an eight-year prison sentence. Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion 

in finding that defendant’s plea was knowing and voluntary. 

Finally, defendant insists it is inconceivable that he would have agreed to a deal he 

could not read because he did not have his eyeglasses. The presence or absence of 

glasses is irrelevant to defendant’s claim, because the trial court gave careful oral 

advisements of all facets of the plea agreement as it existed at the time of the preliminary 

hearing at which defendant changed his plea to guilty. Defendant made no objection 

when the court informed him he could face up to eight years in state prison, and he asked 

no questions before stating, “Guilty, Your Honor,” when asked what his current plea was.

We fail to see what difference having his glasses would have made. In addition, defense 

counsel introduced proof that he had advised defendant in an e-mail that a plea to court 

may result in imposition of the ceiling the court established, which the court said was 

eight years in state prison.
20

Defendant’s attacks on his guilty plea all fail for the reasons we provided. We 

discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denying defendant’s request to withdraw 

his plea.

DISPOSITION

The judgment is affirmed.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

RAMIREZ

P. J.

We concur:

McKINSTER

J.

MILLER

J.