People v. Mastrangelo CA2/1

BACKGROUND

An information charged Mastrangelo with one count of unlawfully driving or taking a vehicle, in violation of Vehicle Code section 10851, subdivision (a),1 and alleged Mastrangelo suffered seven prior felony convictions, which rendered him ineligible for probation in absence of unusual circumstances (Pen. Code, § 1203, subd. (e)(4)). Mastrangelo pleaded not guilty. On October 23, 2013, a jury found Mastrangelo guilty of the charged offense. On October 31, 2013, the trial court sentenced Mastrangelo to county jail for the two-year middle term, to be served concurrently with Mastrangelo’s four-year jail sentence in Los Angeles County Superior Court case number NA096562. The court awarded Mastrangelo presentence credit of 84 days and imposed various fines and penalties. Mastrangelo filed a timely notice of appeal.

FACTS

At trial, Raul Remberto Vasquez Galan testified that on the evening of June 24, 2013, he attended a family party at his son’s house on Norton Street in Long Beach. Vasquez drove to his son’s house in his 1995 Honda Accord (the Accord). After the party, he drove home with his wife in a different car and left his Honda Accord parked on the street in front…