Gomez

A jury found Michael Gomez guilty of robbery with personal use of a firearm (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 12022.5, subd. (a)) and being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 12021, subd. (a)). In a bifurcated proceeding the trial court found true allegations that Gomez was twice previously convicted of serious felonies (§§ 667, subd. (a)/l 192.7, subd. (c)(18) and (c)(27); 667, subd. (a)/l 192.7, subd. (c)(18)) and once served a prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The court sentenced Gomez to prison for a total of twenty years consisting of an upper five-year term for the robbery, a consecutive four-year term for the personal use of a firearm, a consecutive one-year term for the prison term enhancement and 2 five-year terms for the serious prior felony convictions. Pursuant to section 654 the court stayed an upper three-year term for the felon in possession of a firearm conviction.

On appeal, Gomez contends (1) the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to sever the felon in possession of a firearm charge from the armed robbery charge, (2) the prosecution did not meet its burden of demonstrating due diligence to secure the presence at trial of witness Fausto…