People v. Filares CA4/1
- Proceeding
- appeal from a judgment
- Trial court
- Superior Court of San Diego County · No. SCD294600
- Trial judge
- David M. Rubin
- Outcome
- affirmed — Affirmed.
- Area
- criminal
- Panel
- Richard D. Huffman, Sr. (author), O'Rourke, Buchanan
Analysis
The trial court convicted the defendant of burglary and petty theft, denied probation, and sentenced him to four years in state prison. The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment after conducting an independent review of the record pursuant to People v. Wende, finding no arguable issues for reversal.
| Ruling reviewed | Standard | The court | The model |
|---|---|---|---|
Judgment of conviction and sentence for burglary and petty theft“We have reviewed the entire record as required by Wende and Anders. We have not discovered any arguable issues for reversal on appeal.” | de novo | correct | agree with court agree with court |
Authorities
- relied: People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 — Appellate counsel must review the record for error when no arguable issues are identified, and the court must independently review the record.
- relied: Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 — Appellate counsel must file a brief identifying arguable issues or explaining why none exist, and the court must review the record.
The appellate opinion: sound — The opinion is procedurally sound as it correctly applies the Wende/Anders framework for appointed appellate counsel. It identifies the potential sufficiency of evidence issue and states that the court independently reviewed the record and found no error.
How this analysis was made · dispute it
unusual dispositionA San Diego jury convicted Gustavo Filares of burglary and petty theft, and the trial court denied probation, imposed the four-year middle term for burglary, and stayed fines and fees for inability to pay. On appeal, counsel filed a Wende brief identifying only a possible sufficiency-of-evidence issue on the petty theft count; the Court of Appeal independently reviewed the record, found no arguable issues, and affirmed.
| Ruling reviewed | Standard | The court | The model |
|---|---|---|---|
Judgment of conviction and sentence as a whole (Wende/Anders independent record review for arguable issues)“We have reviewed the entire record as required by Wende and Anders. We have not discovered any arguable issues for reversal on appeal.” | unclear | correct | agree with court The court followed the Wende procedure: appointed counsel filed a no-issue brief, the defendant was given the chance to file a supplemental brief and did not, and the court states it reviewed the entire record. The opinion recites the facts and the Anders issue as People v. Kelly requires. Nothing in the recited record (jury verdict, middle term, stayed fines) suggests an overlooked arguable error, so the conclusion is supported on this record. |
Sufficiency of the evidence supporting the count 2 petty theft conviction (Anders issue identified by counsel)“Whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the conviction for count 2.” | substantial evidence | correct | agree with court The recited evidence shows a ring-camera video of a person taking a baseball bag from Adam H.'s property at 12:58 p.m. without permission, and roughly three hours later police found that same baseball bag in Filares's backpack when he was detained matching the burglary suspect description. Possession of recently stolen property together with corroborating circumstances (timing, proximity, flight into the liquor store) is sufficient under the substantial evidence standard to support a theft conviction, even though the victim could not identify the person on the video. |
Authorities
- relied: People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 — When appointed appellate counsel finds no arguable issues, the Court of Appeal must independently review the entire record for arguable error before affirming.
- relied: Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 — Appointed counsel who finds an appeal wholly frivolous must so advise the court and identify anything in the record that might arguably support the appeal, so the court can review.
The appellate opinion: sound — The opinion correctly applies the Wende/Anders procedure, gives the defendant an opportunity to file a supplemental brief, summarizes the facts and the one potential issue counsel flagged, and affirms after independent review. Because it is a brief Wende disposition, it does not expressly analyze the sufficiency issue, but the recited facts plainly support the petty theft conviction, so the result is sound.
Opinion
Filed 5/9/23 P. v. Filares 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, D081265
Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD294600)
GUSTAVO FILARES,
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, David M. Rubin, Judge. Affirmed. John L. Staley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
A jury convicted Gustavo Filares of burglary (Pen. Code,1 § 459; Count 1) and petty theft (§ 484; Count 2). The court denied probation and sentenced Filares to the middle term of four years for burglary. The court 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. imposed various fines and fees but then stayed them because Filares lacked the ability to pay them. Filares 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 review the record for error as mandated by Wende. We offered Filares the opportunity to file his own brief on appeal, but he has not responded.
STATEMENT OF FACTS2 Counsel has provided an accurate summary of the facts of the offenses in this case. We will adopt that summary for convenience. A. The Prosecution Evidence 1. Count 2: Petty Theft Adam H. lived on West Montecito Way in Mission Hills. His residence was equipped with ring cameras. One of the cameras was located at the top of the driveway next to the garage. It recorded activity on the driveway and sidewalk. The recordings contain date and time stamps. On May 11, 2022, Adam viewed the recordings from his ring cameras at the request of a police officer. Exhibit 13 was a video from the ring camera looking through the back gate towards the garage. It showed someone looking through children’s gear on the ground at around 12:58 p.m. Adam did not give permission for anyone to take the baseball bag shown in Exhibit 13. Adam could not identify the person in the video. A police officer returned the baseball bag to Adam later 2 We refer to individuals involved in the events by first names and last initial to protect personal privacy interests. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.90(b).) 2 during the day on May 11. A baseball bat was the only item missing from the bag. 2. Count 1: Burglary Ryan S. lived on Saint James Place in San Diego. On May 11, 2022, at around 2:30 p.m., Ryan and his mother, Roslyn R., took trash outside. They both came back into the house. Ryan went to his bedroom. Ryan’s mother went to the kitchen. Ryan called her mother to come to his bedroom. Roslyn was in the bedroom about a minute when Ryan heard the sound of chimes. Chimes were located on the inside of the back door. Ryan thought someone was in the house. Roslyn went to the laundry room. Ryan followed. A male stood in the doorway. Exhibit 5 showed their location. Ryan was unable to make an in-court identification of Filares as the person in the house. Filares appeared similar to the person. The male wore black pants, a maroon windbreaker with Santa Clara Lacrosse written on the back, and carried a black backpack. Exhibit 6 showed a person wearing the same clothing as the person who entered the house. The male and Roslyn held onto a brown bag. Ryan yelled for the male to leave. The brown bag contained empty butane canisters. The male turned, stumbled down the stairs, and left the house. Ryan followed the male in his vehicle. He saw the male walk on Sunset Street. Ryan followed the male to the intersection of Sunset Street and Fort Stockton Drive. Ryan met police at that location and told them what had transpired. San Diego Police Officer Frances Perez responded to Fort Stockton Drive and Sunset Street in response to a call about hot prowl burglary. Perez met Ryan at that location and then went to Saint James Place and spoke with Roslyn. Perez and his partner then looked for the suspect. At 3:56 p.m., the officers saw someone, identified as Filares, at Washington Street, 3 matching the suspect description. Filares sat on the side of the road. Filares ran across the street and went inside Mission Hills Liquor. Perez went into the liquor store. Filares wore a black backpack. Perez told Filares to put it on the ground. Filares did so. Exhibit 9 showed the contents of the backpack which included Adam’s baseball bag. Exhibit 10 showed the property in the backpack. Filares was arrested. B. The Defense Evidence. Filares did not present any evidence. DISCUSSION As we have noted, appellate counsel has filed a Wende brief and asks the court to review the record for error. To assist the court in its review, and in compliance with Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 (Anders), counsel has identified a possible issue that was considered in evaluating the potential merits of this appeal: Whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the conviction for count 2. We have reviewed the entire record as required by Wende and Anders. We have not discovered any arguable issues for reversal on appeal. Competent counsel has represented Filares on this appeal.
4 DISPOSITION The judgment is affirmed.
HUFFMAN, Acting P. J.
WE CONCUR:
O’ROURKE, J.
BUCHANAN, J.
Cites, in this corpus
- People v. Wende Crim. 20851 · 1979-10-12