Jasso

Statement of the Case

A jury convicted defendant Jaime Mejia Jasso of three counts of conspiracy to transport a controlled substance into prison and two counts of transporting a controlled substance into prison. (Pen. Code, § 182, subd. (a)(1); Health & Saf. Code, § 11352, subd. (b).) Thereafter, the court found that he had one prior strike conviction. (Pen. Code, § 1170.12.) The court imposed the upper term of nine years for one count of transporting and doubled it under the “Three Strikes” law. It then imposed two consecutive four-year terms, one for the second count of transporting and the other for one count of conspiracy. The court stayed the terms for the other counts under section 654, and ordered that defendant serve the 26-year term consecutively to a life term that he was already serving.

On appeal from the judgment, defendant claims that the trial court failed to instruct the jury sua sponte to decide whether there was one overall conspiracy or multiple conspiracies. He alternatively claims that if the court had no sua sponte duty, then defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to request such an instruction. Defendant further claims the…