People v. Olivera CA5

INTRODUCTION

On June 11, 2018, defendant Bliselda Maria Olivera drove her vehicle at Nora O.,1 causing Nora to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by the vehicle. A jury convicted defendant of assault with a deadly weapon and the trial court sentenced defendant to a three-year term of probation. Defendant contends on appeal that (1) the trial court violated her right to be personally present at trial by continuing to select the jury in her absence after she overslept and was five hours late for trial; (2) defense counsel was constitutionally ineffective when he implicitly agreed to continue jury selection in her absence; (3) the trial court erred in instructing the jury on assault with a deadly weapon by omitting reference to the term “deadly weapon”; (4) the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury as to the lesser included offense of simple assault; (5) the cumulative impact of the instructional errors violated defendant’s right to due process; (6) the lifetime suspension of defendant’s driving privilege violates equal protection principles; (7) the trial court exceeded its authority in ordering the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to revoke defendant’s driver’s…