Filed 4/13/21 P. v. Alvarez CA5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT THE PEOPLE, F078551 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Fresno Super. Ct. No. F16902732) v. EFREN ALVAREZ, OPINION Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Jonathan B. Conklin, Judge. Law Office of Nico Capozzi and Nico Capozzi for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Julie A. Hokans, and Henry J. Valle, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- Three individuals worked under defendant, a crew leader for a farm labor contractor, in March 2016. Defendant paid the security deposit and first month’s rent for an apartment, and thereafter a house, for them to live in with several others. In exchange, the victims agreed to work for defendant’s crew through the end of the work “season.” The victims gave up their visas as a condition of the loan. The victims testified that defendant would berate them at work, threaten them with immigration consequences, and require them to work for him as a condition of their housing. Defendant was convicted of human trafficking as to one victim and extortion by means of force or threat as to all three victims. Days before a defense expert on human trafficking was scheduled to testify at an Evidence Code section 402 hearing near the conclusion of trial, a billing and scheduling issue arose. The expert indicated he could not testify for several weeks. The trial court denied a defense request for a continuance and for a mistrial. Defendant claims on appeal that the judgment must be reversed because counsel rendered ineffective assistance with respect to the expert. We reject that claim and affirm. BACKGROUND In a second amended information, the Fresno County District Attorney charged defendant and appellant Efren Alvarez with three counts of human trafficking (counts 1– 3; Pen. Code, § 236.1, subd. (a))1 and three counts of extortion (counts 4–6; §§ 518, 520) by means of force or threat (§ 519). A jury convicted defendant on counts 2, 4, 5, and 6.2 The jury acquitted defendant on count 3,3 and deadlocked on count 1. 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated. 2 The victim of counts 2 and 5 was Elena H. 3 The victim of counts 3 and 6 was Luigi M., and the victim of counts 1 and 4 was Carmen B. 2. The abstract of judgment reflects the court sentenced defendant to eight years in prison, comprised of the following: the lower term of five years on count 2, plus one year each for counts 4, 5 and 6.4 FACTS …
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