People v. Hamilton CA3

BACKGROUND

In July 2020, defendant’s fiancée and two others were sitting in a car in a parking lot when defendant struck the car with his pickup truck. Defendant then got out of his pickup truck and began hitting the passenger side of the car.

1 The People charged defendant with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code,1 § 245, subd. (a)(1)) and one count of vandalism (§ 594, subd. (a)). The People alleged defendant had suffered a prior strike conviction. The trial court exercised its discretion to deny defendant’s petition for mental health diversion. The court reasoned that defendant was not a suitable candidate for treatment in the community, in part because, upon resolution of this case, defendant would be transferred to Wyoming to serve a prison term of seven to 10 years in another case. Defendant ultimately pled no contest to one count of assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism, and admitted his prior strike conviction. The trial court sentenced defendant to four years (the lower term, doubled due to the prior strike) for the assault and a concurrent term of two years, eight months (the lower term, doubled due to the prior strike) for vandalism. The court…