People v. Rivas CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant and defendant Connie Louise Rivas has appealed from the superior court’s finding that she was not competent to stand trial. On appeal, her 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).) We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 27, 2017, a complaint was filed in the Superior Court of Fresno County charging defendant and Robert Rodriguez with count 1, felony receiving stolen property, a motor vehicle (Pen. Code, §496d, subd. (a));1 and count 3, misdemeanor receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a)). Codefendant Rodriguez was separately charged with count 2, carrying a concealed dirk or dagger (§ 21310). On June 28, 2017, defendant pleaded not guilty. Thereafter, defendant was on pretrial release, failed to appear, and was remanded on bench warrants, and released again, throughout 2017, 2018, and 2019. Competency proceedings On June 20, 2019, the court convened a hearing on the instant case and defendant’s six other pending criminal cases. Based on an advisement from defense…