People v. Ortiz CA1/5

I. BACKGROUND

Ortiz was charged by amended information with two counts of first degree residential burglary (§ 459), one count of felony receiving stolen property (§ 496), and

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

1 one misdemeanor charge of obstructing or delaying a peace officer (§ 148).2 The information also alleged Ortiz had suffered two prior felony convictions in the state of Texas for which he had been imprisoned. (§ 667.5, subd. (b).) The information alleged that one of the prior Texas convictions qualified as a sentence enhancing strike under the three strikes law (§§ 667, subds. (d), (e), 1170.12, subds. (b), (c)), and was a serious felony under section 667, subdivision (a)(1). On May 9, 2012, a jury returned a guilty verdict on one of the two burglary charges and made a true finding that the offense was first-degree residential burglary.3 The following day, jury trial was held on the prior conviction allegations, and the jury found the allegations to be true.4 The prosecution introduced documentary evidence showing Ortiz had entered a plea of guilty to second degree felony burglary in Texas in 1998. The evidence adduced to…