P.

INTRODUCTION

A jury found defendant and appellant Raymond Reyes, III guilty of one count of heroin possession. After the trial court found true prior convictions and denied his Romero1 motion, the court sentenced him to 25 years to life under the Three Strikes law. Reyes now contends that the court abused its discretion by denying his Romero motion, that his sentence violates federal and state constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment,2 and that his constitutional right to present a defense was denied when the court refused to compel the attendance of in-custody witnesses. We reject these contentions and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Factual background.

While conducting an unrelated investigation on February 26, 2008, a detective came into contact with Reyes, whose physical symptoms indicated he was under the influence of heroin or opiates. After finding a key to a motel room in Reyes’s pocket, detectives searched the room and found, in a man’s jacket, two hypodermic needles that appeared to be used, because they contained a brown liquid resembling tar heroin and because blood residue was on the needles. Inside a hat was a…