People v. Valenzuela CA3

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

In February 2021, defendant and his girlfriend argued. During the argument, defendant hit his girlfriend in the face several times. As a result of defendant hitting her,

1 defendant’s girlfriend suffered a bloody and bruised nose, bruises on her leg, and an injury to her toe. In San Joaquin County Superior Court, case No. STK-CR-FDV-2021-0001519 (case No. 1519), the People charged defendant with intimate partner abuse (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a), statutory section citations that follow are found in the Penal Code unless otherwise stated); making criminal threats (§ 422, subd. (a)); and vandalism (§ 594, subd. (a)). Defendant pleaded no contest to intimate partner abuse. In exchange for defendant’s plea, the People moved to dismiss the remaining charges with a Harvey1 waiver; the court granted the People’s motion. The People also agreed defendant would serve four years on “formal felony domestic violence probation.” Consistent with the terms of the negotiated plea agreement, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on four years’ formal probation. The court issued a domestic violence protective order,…