People v. Gomez CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2023, a jury convicted appellant Christi Ann Gomez of unlawfully obtaining personal information belonging to another and using that information for an unlawful purpose (Pen. Code, § 530.5, subd. (a); count 2). The jury also convicted appellant of misdemeanor possessing a device used to unlawfully ingest a controlled substance (Health & Saf. Code, § 11364, subd. (a); count 3). Appellant has a lengthy criminal record going back to 1998. She has approximately 14 prior misdemeanor convictions and two prior felony convictions. She was on probation when the convictions in this matter occurred. In count 2, appellant was sentenced to the middle term of two years, to be served in local custody. In count 3, she was ordered to serve 180 days in jail, consecutive to the sentence imposed in count 2.1 Appellant’s counsel has filed a Wende2 brief in this court. After reviewing the entire record, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

The prosecution established at trial that appellant possessed and used a driver’s license which did not belong to her. Appellant used the stolen identification to rent a U-Haul truck.3 When contacted by law enforcement, a drug pipe was recovered in…