People v. Sanford CA3

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

This appeal involves the joint sentencing in two cases. In case No. 21CF04465, defendant pleaded no contest to bringing methamphetamine into a jail facility. (Pen. Code, § 4573.5; statutory section citations that follow are found in the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.) Before defendant was sentenced, the prosecution charged him with attempted arson (§ 455, subd. (a)), resisting a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)), and possession of drug paraphernalia (Health & Saf. Code, § 11364, subd. (a)) in case No. 21CF04671. The prosecution also alleged defendant committed the attempted arson while he was released on bail or his own recognizance. (§ 12022.1.) The prosecution later dismissed the count charging possession of drug paraphernalia. At trial, two witnesses testified for the prosecution. The first, a city park employee, testified she saw defendant in a park one morning. She saw defendant bent over a stump with an open flame. Defendant was holding the flame “towards the stump, like he was trying to light something on the stump on fire.” Defendant did the same thing a “couple of times.” She could not tell if defendant was using a…