People v. Patzke CA3

BACKGROUND

The facts underlying defendant’s offense are immaterial to our disposition. It suffices to say defendant fled police pursuit by driving a stolen vehicle at high speeds and in an otherwise dangerous manner. During the pursuit, defendant almost collided with one of the police cars. The pursuit ended when defendant crashed the vehicle. A jury found defendant guilty of assault on a peace officer (§ 245, subd. (c)), fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle and driving against traffic (Veh. Code, § 2800.4), and driving a vehicle without consent (Veh. Code, § 10851). At sentencing, the trial court noted (as documented in the probation report) that defendant had multiple adult criminal convictions and four documented probation violations, and had served a prior prison term. When the instant offense was committed, defendant was on parole with a pending violation. The court found defendant’s crime “involve[d] a threat of bodily harm” and observed defendant “didn’t seem to show any remorse for” stealing the vehicle and ultimately crashed it during the pursuit. The court found no mitigating circumstances and selected the upper term of five years for assault on

Further…