Opinion ID: 2638221
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant's Convictions

Text: On the evening of March 16, 2002, Kim Mapel was working at a Subway restaurant in Goshen when defendant entered, revealed a gun in his waistband, and demanded money from the cash register. Mapel gave defendant about $200 from the register, whereupon defendant fled. A couple of days after the incident, Mapel was at a gas station near the Subway restaurant when she saw defendant hiding behind one of the pumps. Mapel contacted police, but defendant could not be found. On the morning of April 2, 2002, Mapel was standing near her vehicle in a parking lot at San Joaquin Valley College where she was a student when defendant approached her and asked why she rat[ted] on him for having a gun? Defendant then stated he knew Mapel had two pretty little girls at home and that if Mapel ratted, he would use a gun on her. Defendant thereafter ran away and Mapel drove home. Mapel told her boyfriend, Joe Martinez, with whom she lived, about the incident and he telephoned the police. Martinez drove around the neighborhood to see if Mapel had been followed and drove by a white car with four occupants. One of the men yelled out of the window, What's up? After Martinez returned home, he and Mapel noticed the same white car drive by their house. At that point, a Tulare County Sheriffs detective responded to Martinez's call and spotted a white Chevy Capri, which matched Martinez's description. The detective activated his car's siren and a vehicle chase ensued. During the pursuit, two of the four vehicle occupants fled on foot. Officers eventually detained three of the occupants, but the fourth person escaped. Meanwhile, a Plymouth Neon belonging to Lonetta Hogue was stolen from the area. A few minutes later, the Neon merged onto Highway 99 in Goshen and almost struck California Highway Patrol Officer Ryan Duran's patrol vehicle. A high-speed chase ensued, during which the Neon reached speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour. As the Neon attempted to navigate an off-ramp to Route 198, the car careened out of control and crashed. Duran saw the driver exit the Neon and run eastbound onto Route 198. By this time, California Highway Patrol Officer Roy Frakes had responded to the scene and gave chase. James Petersen, who was driving `his pickup truck on Route 198, saw the chase and stopped his vehicle. The suspect, later identified as defendant, entered Petersen's pickup on the passenger's side and stated, Drive or I'll kill ya. Petersen put the pickup in park, pulled the key out of the ignition, and jumped out. Defendant locked the passenger door, got behind the steering wheel and attempted to drive the pickup. At this point, Officer Frakes arrived and started to bang on the passenger's side window. Seeing that defendant was unarmed, Petersen returned to the pickup and pulled defendant out with the help of Officer Frakes and another man. Mapel later identified defendant in a field show-up as the man who robbed her at the Subway restaurant and the man who accosted her at San Joaquin Valley College. The jury convicted defendant of attempted kidnapping during the commission of carjacking (Pen.Code, §§ 664, 209.5, subd. (a)) and attempted unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle (Pen.Code, § 664, Veh.Code, § 10851, subd. (a)) with respect to the incident involving victim Petersen. Defendant was also convicted of various other counts related to the Subway robbery, his threats against victim Mapel, and the high-speed chase. [2] The trial court sentenced defendant to a prison term totaling 23 years and four months, which included a term of two years and four months for attempted kidnapping during the commission of carjacking. (Calculated as one-third the midterm; see Pen.Code, § 1170.1, subd. (a).) Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.