People v. Cooper CA4/1

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts concerning appellant's conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon

and the sentencing hearings attendant to that conviction are outlined in detail in three

unpublished opinions issued by this court. (People v. Cooper (Dec. 22, 1999, D033007);

People v. Cooper (Jan. 12, 2001, D035524); People v. Cooper (Oct. 10, 2002, D038322.)

We take judicial notice of those opinions and rely on them to set forth the factual and

procedural backgrounds underlying the current appeal as the record before us is limited to

documents relevant to the petition referenced above. Those prior opinions reveal the

following.

In August 1998, appellant was stopped by police at about 10:30 p.m. because the

light was out over his license plate. He was on parole at the time. The contact ultimately

revealed a nine-millimeter pistol in his waistband. The pistol was fully loaded and

contained 15 rounds of hollow-point ammunition.

2 Appellant's criminal history revealed he had suffered three prior strike convictions.

Two were juvenile adjudications, one for attempted robbery with the personal use of a

deadly weapon (a baseball bat), and one for…