Cardenas
People v. Cardenas
Opinion
Opinion
Johnson, J.
Guillermo Cardenas appeals from the judgment following his conviction for second degree robbery. He contends the prosecutor exercised group bias in excusing two Hispanic prospective jurors in violation of People v. Wheeler and the trial court erred in imposing the upper term sentence based on facts not found by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt in violation of Cunningham v. California. We find no merit to defendant’s Wheeler contention but we conclude defendant was sentenced to the high term in violation of Cunningham and People v. Black.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW
A jury convicted Cardenas of robbing Cory Konopka of his wallet on the street in front of Konopka’s workplace. Cardenas and Konopka had been coworkers but Cardenas had recently been fired. He believed Konopka played a role in his termination. The facts showed another person assisted Cardenas in the robbery, but this person was not a codefendant or witness in Cardenas’s trial.
We concern ourselves here only with the jury selection process and the trial court’s imposition of the upper term sentence. We state the facts relevant to these issues in our discussion below.