Court Opinion

ID: 9910512
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-15 19:02:33.977754+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:53:07.792061
License: Public Domain

Filed 12/15/16 P. v. Pierce CA2/6
     NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

                         SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

                                         DIVISION SIX

THE PEOPLE,                                                                 2d Crim. No. B326278
                                                                        (Super. Ct. Nos. 2022021215,
     Plaintiff and Respondent,                                            2022024137, 2022029377)
                                                                              (Ventura County)
v.

AARON JAMES PIERCE,

     Defendant and Appellant.

      Aaron James Pierce appeals a judgment entered following
his guilty plea to two counts of burglary and one count of
attempted burglary. (Pen. Code, §§ 459, 664.)1 The 16-month
concurrent sentence for attempted burglary in Case No.
2022024137 is reduced to an eight-month concurrent sentence.
The judgment is otherwise affirmed.

         1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless

otherwise stated.
            FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
       This appeal raises the single issue of an unauthorized
sentence for the criminal offense of attempted burglary. (People
v. Scott (1994) 9 Cal.4th 331, 354 [a violation of the mandatory
provisions governing the length of confinement results in an
unauthorized sentence that may be challenged at any time].) The
Attorney General concedes and the parties agree that
resentencing is necessary.
       In Ventura County Case No. 2022021215, Pierce was
charged with burglary and possession of fentanyl. (§ 459; Health
& Saf. Code, § 11350, subd. (a).) Shortly after midnight on
August 21, 2022, Pierce was seen inside a closed music and video
store. Police officers detained him after he left the store. Pierce
had compact discs and a poncho from the store in his possession.
He also had fentanyl in a metal container.
       In Ventura County Case No. 2022024137, Pierce was
charged with attempted burglary and possession of
methamphetamine. (§§ 664, 459; Health & Saf. Code, § 11377,
subd. (a).) Shortly after midnight on September 21, 2022, police
officers found Pierce attempting to pry open the door to a
business complex with a long stick. He informed officers that he
planned to sleep inside the complex. Officers found
methamphetamine in Pierce’s clothing pocket during a search
incident to his arrest.
       In Ventura County Case No. 2022029377, Pierce was
charged with burglary and having committed the offense while
released on his own recognizance or bail. (§§ 459, 12022.1, subd.
(b).) In the early morning of November 16, 2022, Pierce entered
the courtyard of a church and attempted to pry open doors with a
metal garden tool. He then obtained a metal pipe, opened the

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church office door, and entered the church office. As he left the
church carrying a gray satchel containing a digital projector,
Oxnard police officers detained him.
       On November 22, 2022, Pierce waived his preliminary
examination and trial rights in the three cases and pleaded guilty
to two counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary.
On January 19, 2023, the trial court sentenced Pierce to two
years eight months in county jail, consisting of two years for the
Case No. 2022021215 burglary, eight months consecutive for the
Case No. 2022029377 burglary, and a 16-month concurrent
sentence for the Case No. 2022024137 attempted burglary. The
court dismissed the remaining counts and allegations and
awarded Pierce presentence custody credit. The plea and
sentencing resulted from a negotiated disposition between the
court and the parties.
       The trial court granted Pierce a certificate of probable
cause on February 6, 2023. This appeal followed.
       Appellate counsel then filed an opening brief informing this
court that he reviewed the record and could not find any arguable
issues to raise on appeal. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.)
Counsel noted that he filed a motion in the trial court, however,
to correct the sentence imposed for attempted burglary. Counsel
requested that we send the opening brief to Pierce and inform
him of his right to file a supplemental letter or brief. We so
informed Pierce and he filed supplemental briefs asserting that
trial counsel stated that she would urge the trial court to grant
probation and order Pierce’s participation in a substance abuse
program.
       On August 17, 2023, counsel filed a motion in this court
requesting to withdraw the prior Wende brief and submit an

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opening brief raising the issue of an unauthorized sentence for
attempted burglary. Counsel stated that the trial court directed
him to raise the issue on appeal. We granted counsel’s motion,
struck the prior Wende brief, and permitted the filing of an
opening brief.
                           DISCUSSION
       The parties agree that the trial court erred by imposing a
16-month county jail sentence for attempted burglary. The
sentence for burglary is 16 months or two or three years. (§§ 461,
subd. (b), 1170, subd. (h)(1).) Attempts to commit crimes are
punishable by one-half the sentence for the completed crimes.
(§ 664, subd. (a).) Thus, the lower term concurrent sentence that
the court imposed for attempted burglary should have been eight
months, not 16 months.
       We do not address the claims Pierce makes in his
supplemental briefs filed in response to the now-withdrawn
Wende brief. The general rule that a defendant who is
represented by an attorney of record will not be personally
recognized by the court in the conduct of his case applies to the
filing of pro se documents on appeal. (People v. Merkouris (1956)
46 Cal.2d 540, 554-555.) Other than motions regarding
representation, pro se documents are returned unfiled or, if
mistakenly filed, stricken from the docket. (People v. Mattson
(1959) 51 Cal.2d 777, 798.)
                           DISPOSITION
       The 16-month concurrent sentence imposed for attempted
burglary in Case No. 2022024137 is reduced to an eight-month
concurrent sentence. (§ 1260.) The judgment is otherwise
affirmed. The trial court shall amend the abstract of judgment

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accordingly and forward the amended abstract to the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation
      NOT TO BE PUBLISHED.

                                  GILBERT, P. J.
We concur:

             BALTODANO, J.

             CODY, J.

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                  Patricia M. Murphy, Judge

               Superior Court County of Ventura

                ______________________________

      Richard B. Lennon, under appointment by the Court of
Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
      Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief
Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant
Attorney General, Steven D. Matthews and Stephanie C.
Santoro, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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