People v. Cotton CA2/5

BACKGROUND

I. The Offense Conduct2

An eight count amended information filed in February 1998 charged defendant with committing multiple criminal acts against his former fiancé, Jeannette M., including stalking, forced oral copulation, assault with a taser, eavesdropping with an electronic recording device during a confidential communication, and two counts each of making terrorist threats and misdemeanor vandalism. The information alleged defendant had suffered three prior convictions for robbery within the meaning of section 1170.12, subdivision (a) and section 667, subdivisions (b) through (i) (the Three Strikes law). More relevant for our purposes, the forced oral copulation count of the information included an allegation that defendant was armed with a box cutter during the commission of the offense. (§ 12022.3 [sentence enhancement for a person armed with a firearm or

1 All undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code. 2 We take the following factual summary from the trial court’s memorandum of decision on defendant’s petition for recall of sentence and our opinion in defendant’s appeal from his conviction. (People v. Cotton (July 12, 1999, B121762)…