People v. Rudd CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant/defendant Ronald Ray Rudd, committed to Coalinga State Hospital, was found in possession of an external drive connected to his television, which contained multiple child pornography videos. After a bench trial, he was convicted of felony possession or control of child pornography (Pen. Code, § 311.11, subd. (b)),1 with three prior strike convictions. He was sentenced to the third strike term of 25 years to life. On appeal, his appellate counsel has 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).) Defendant has filed a letter brief and requests this court address certain issues. We affirm.

FACTS

On March 21, 2012, defendant was a patient at Coalinga State Hospital. He was housed in a four-person room which was divided by partitions. Defendant lived in the front right section of the room. Around 7:00 p.m., Denise Martin, a psychiatric technician, advised another patient to take his medication. The patient told Martin to look at the television on the right side when she entered the room where defendant was housed.…