People v. Calderon CA3

BACKGROUND

Charged with 14 counts of sexually abusing a child, defendant negotiated a plea agreement in which he would plead guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse or sodomy

1 with a child 10 years of age or younger (Pen. Code, § 288.7, subd. (a))1 and one count of a lewd or lascivious act on a child under the age of 14 (§ 288, subd. (b)(1)). In exchange, defendant would receive 50 years to life in prison—consecutive 25-year terms for the first two offenses—plus a consecutive 10 years for the third offense. Defendant pleaded guilty to those charges and waived his appellate rights. Before sentencing, however, defendant sought to withdraw his plea based on trial counsel’s performance. In a closed hearing, defendant indicated he felt that, compared with his previous attorney, trial counsel was insufficiently zealous and failed to provide straightforward answers. Advisory counsel appointed by the court for purposes of the hearing stated he could not find a legal basis for withdrawing defendant’s plea. The court informed defendant it was willing to replace trial counsel with advisory counsel. However, if defendant wished to proceed with withdrawing his plea, he would have to do…