People v. Reyes
California Court of Appeal
195 Cal. App. 3d 957 (1987)
- Written by Arlyn Katen, JD
Facts
Salvador Reyes (defendant) beat 74-year-old Wilfred Marsden and took $330 from Marsden’s pockets. Marsden had cuts on his face that required stitches and spent about five hours at the hospital. A neighbor interrupted the attack and chased Reyes as Reyes tried to flee. Police administered a blood test because Reyes seemed drunk, and Reyes’s blood alcohol content was .11 percent. But Reyes had bodily control and was able to answer police officers’ questions. A jury convicted Reyes of one count of robbery but acquitted Reyes of the special allegation that he had inflicted great bodily injury on a person who was at least 60 years old. During sentencing, the trial court considered Reyes’s probation report, which noted that Reyes admitted to alcohol problems. The trial court sentenced Reyes to five years, the upper term for robbery. Reyes appealed, raising several appellate issues. Reyes challenged his sentence on two grounds: (1) the trial court erred by failing to consider Reyes’s alcoholism as a mitigating factor, and (2) the trial court’s decision to impose an upper term for Reyes’s infliction of great bodily injury was improper because the jury acquitted him of that charge.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Harvey, J.)
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