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People v. Washington5/16/2003
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
After trial a jury convicted defendant Terry Lee Washington of the felony of driving recklessly in an attempt to elude a pursuing peace officer (count 1; Veh. Code, § 2800.1) and the misdemeanor of hit-and- run causing property damage (count 2; Veh. Code, § 20002, subd. (a)). In bifurcated proceedings, the trial court found true that defendant had a prior robbery conviction (Pen. Code, §§ 667, 1170.12) for which he served a prison term (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)).
After denying defendant's motion to strike his prior strike, the trial court sentenced defendant to five years in prison, consisting of the two-year midterm for his felony, doubled due to defendant's prior strike, and enhanced by one year due to his prior prison term, with a concurrent 90-day term for his misdemeanor.
On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to strike the jury panel and by excluding evidence of his brother's confession. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm the judgment.
Trial evidence
On May 13, 2001, defendant borrowed a black Mustang convertible from his girlfriend Jessica Gonzalez. Around 6:30 p.m., this Mustang struck a white van from behind in Hellyer County Park. The van's driver, Javier Gonzalez, began to get out of the van when the Mustang accelerated past him with smoking tires . There were two passengers in the Mustang, one male, one female. Javier tried to follow the car. When Javier saw a police officer near the entrance to the park, he told him the Mustang driver had hit him. At trial Javier identified defendant as the driver of the Mustang.
Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriff Michael Beebe noticed the black Mustang before hearing Javier's report. He was parked in uniform by a park entrance in a marked four-wheel drive vehicle. Beebe saw the Mustang run a stop sign at a three-way intersection. The Mustang's top was down. From 20 yards away, Beebe saw that defendant was the driver. His hair was in a corn-rows style. A male was in the front passenger seat. A female was in the rear passenger seat. Beebe identified defendant as the driver at trial.
Beebe turned on the flashing red and blue lights on his vehicle and pulled up behind the Mustang at a stop sign. While the Mustang waited for traffic to clear, Javier flagged Beebe down and said that defendant had hit him without exchanging information.
When the Mustang pulled away from the stop sign, Beebe turned on his siren and gave chase for three or four minutes. In that course of time, defendant ran through three or four stop signs and drove in the wrong lane two or three times at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood. He twice caused oncoming cars to slow and pull over.
Beebe lost sight of the Mustang for about five seconds when it turned a corner. When Beebe turned the corner, he saw the Mustang parked in the street about 50 yards from defendant's father's house. He also saw defendant and the male passenger running from the car in the direction of the father's house. The passenger jumped a wooden fence, while defendant ran around a corner. Deputy Beebe got out of his car and talked to the female passenger, while other officers arrived and set up a perimeter around the father's house.
After about 10 minutes, Santa Clara County Deput
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