Gomez

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

We provide a brief description of the underlying crimes, as the issues on appeal are limited to the alleged RJA violation and sentencing issues. On September 27, 2023, a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy on patrol in a rural area of Blythe decided to check on a property that he knew to be unoccupied and targeted for theft. The deputy noticed a door to the workshop was open. As he was investigating, he heard a noise that sounded like a vehicle running and turned to see a vehicle towing a motorhome. Gomez was driving the vehicle. There was another individual in the passenger seat, and a third in the motorhome itself. The vehicle did not have a tow hitch and, instead, the motorhome was connected by an “ad hoc” rig that included two stabilizing bars later determined to have been taken from the workshop on the property. None of the three individuals owned or had permission to move the motorhome or the stabilizing bars.

2 The People charged Gomez as follows: count 1–willfully driving or taking a vehicle (the motorhome) without consent and with intent to deprive the owner of possession of the vehicle, with an allegation that Gomez was previously…