People v. Fawcett CA5

INTRODUCTION

A court clerk reported defendant Mark Randall Fawcett to court security after he passed her and another court clerk in front of the courthouse, threatened to blow up the building, and told them “to try and have a nice day.” Defendant was apprehended outside of the police department, which was near the public defender’s office. Defendant was subsequently charged with threatening state officials (Pen. Code, § 76, subd. (a); count 1), criminal threats (§ 422, subd. (a); count 2), resisting, delaying, or obstructing a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1); count 3), and disobeying a court order (§ 166, subd. (a)(4); count 4). (Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) A jury convicted defendant of counts 1, 2, and 4. In a bifurcated proceeding, defendant admitted a prior prison term enhancement. The court sentenced defendant to the upper term of three years’ imprisonment on count 2 and stayed a three-year upper term sentence on count 1 and a six-month jail term as to count 4. The court also imposed the one-year prior prison term enhancement for an aggregate sentence of four years. Defendant challenges his convictions, arguing his counsel was ineffective in…