People v. Brown CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

By information filed on March 7, 2012, the Sonoma County District Attorney charged defendant with possession of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)), bringing a controlled substance into jail (Pen. Code, § 4573), obstructing a police officer (Pen. Code, § 148, subd. (a)(1)), driving with a suspended license (Veh. Code, § 14601.1, subd. (a)), and possessing drug paraphernalia (Health & Saf. Code, § 11364, subd.(a)). The information further alleged that defendant committed the first

1 two offenses while on bail (Pen. Code, § 12022.1), that he had a prior conviction (Veh. Code, § 14601.1), suffered a prior strike for assaulting a peace officer (Pen. Code, §§ 245, subd. (c), 1170.12), and had served a prior prison term (Pen. Code, §§ 245, 667.6. subd. (b)). On May 8, 2012, defendant appeared with counsel and pleaded no contest to all charges and admitted the special allegations. Thereafter, the trial court set the matter for sentencing and ordered preparation of a probation report. The probation report was prepared for the sentencing hearing on June 5, 2012. In that report, the probation department noted that defendant “has an extensive history of…