The People v. Lawson CA2/7

BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Appellant was charged in the trial court with two counts of corporal injury to a cohabitant in violation of Penal Code section 273.5, subdivision (a).1 The information further alleged weapons and great bodily injury enhancements. In addition, it was alleged that appellant had served four prior prison terms. A conviction for “Robbery 3rd Degree” in Alabama, was also alleged as a prior serious or violent felony conviction pursuant to the Three Strikes Law, Penal Code sections 667, subdivisions (d)(2) and (b)- (i), and 1170.12, subdivisions (a) through (d); and a serious felony conviction under Penal Code section 667, subdivision (a)(1).

The underlying facts that support appellant‟s conviction are not relevant to the issues on appeal and are therefore omitted.

The Alabama conviction occurred on August 31, 1981, in the Tuscaloosa Alabama Circuit Court. Appellant pleaded guilty to Third Degree Robbery and received a sentence of three years. There are no facts in the record before this court that describe the facts of the incident that led to the conviction. 2 On July 16, 2012, a jury convicted appellant of corporal injury to a…