Zichwic

Following the denial of his suppression motion, defendant Daniel George Zichwic pled no contest to a charge of second degree burglary of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) utility van which occurred on November 14, 1998. (Pen. Code, §§ 459-460.) 1 Other charges of petty theft of tools with a specified prior (§ 666) and possession of stolen tools (§ 496) were dismissed. Defendant also admitted the following criminal history. Defendant, born in April 1964, was convicted of one residential burglary in 1984, two residential burglaries in 1985, and two residential burglaries in 1992.

After denying defendant’s motion to strike his five prior strike convictions of residential burglary, the trial court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years under the “Three Strikes” law. (§ 1170.12, subd. (c)(2).)

On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his suppression motion and that the trial court misunderstood its discretion to strike his strikes. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm the judgment.

1. Suppression motion

On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his…

As a parolee, defendant was subject to a greatly reduced expectation of privacy. As such, I agree that the surveillance method employed here was not unduly intrusive.

However, I respectfully dissent as to the sentencing issue.

After carefully evaluating the facts of the present offense as well as the defendant’s prior history, the trial court expressed a desire to strike priors in furtherance of justice for the purpose of imposing a sentence that was reasonable in light of all relevant factors. (Pen. Code, § 1385, subd. (a) and People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497 [ 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 789 , 917 P.2d 628 ] (Romero)). However, the court expressed a belief that it lacked the power to do so, relying primarily on People v. Williams (1998) 17 Cal.4th 148 [ 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 917 , 948 P.2d 429 ] (Williams).

The reason for striking a prior in furtherance of justice should at least be “ 1 “that which would motivate a reasonable judge.” ’ ” ( Romero, supra, 13 *962 Cal.4th at pp. 530-531). It would be an abuse of discretion to do so simply for the purpose of judicial convenience or because of court congestion, or simply because a defendant pleads guilty, or if the court is…

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, Acting P.J.

Following the denial of his suppression motion, defendant Daniel George Zichwic pled no contest to a charge of second degree burglary of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) utility van which occurred on November 14, 1998. (Pen. Code, §§ 459-460.) [1] Other charges of petty theft of tools with a specified prior (§ 666) and possession of stolen tools (§ 496) were dismissed. Defendant also admitted the following criminal history. Defendant, born in April 1964, was convicted of one residential burglary in 1984, two residential burglaries in 1985, and two residential burglaries in 1992.

After denying defendant's motion to strike his five prior strike convictions of residential burglary, the trial court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years under the Three Strikes law. (§ 1170.12, subd. (c)(2).)

On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his suppression motion and that the trial court misunderstood its discretion to strike his strikes. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm the judgment.

On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his…