People v. Macias CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant/defendant Luis Saul Macias pleaded no contest to attempted murder and was sentenced to the stipulated term of nine years. On appeal, his appellate counsel filed a brief that summarizes the facts with citations to the record, raises no issues, and asks this court to independently review the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende).) By letter on May 15, 2014, we invited defendant to submit additional briefing. Defendant has filed two letter briefs and claims the victim lied at the preliminary hearing about the circumstances of the offense. We affirm.

FACTS1

On May 7, 2013, defendant asked his teenage daughter, A.M., to call Miguel Gallegos and ask him to come to their house. Gallegos was the cousin of defendant’s wife, Gabriella. Gallegos occasionally visited the house and drank beer with Gabriella. Defendant did not like Gabriella to drink beer with Gallegos. A.M. testified that earlier that day, defendant and Gabriella argued about Gallegos coming over the house and drinking with her. A.M. sent a text message to Gallegos telling him that defendant wanted to talk to him “about the beers.” Gallegos testified he called A.M. and told her that he…