People v. Tapia


Filed 8/31/18 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT THE PEOPLE, F075475 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. MCR44769A) v. RAMIRO TAPIA, OPINION Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Madera County. Joseph A. Soldani, Judge. Law Office of Ricci & Sprouls and Frank P. Sprouls for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Lewis A. Martinez and Louis M. Vasquez, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo- INTRODUCTION Appellant Ramiro Tapia pled no contest in 2012 to one count of violating Penal Code section 182, subdivision (a)(1), conspiracy, and one count of violating Health and Safety Code section 11358, planting, harvesting, or processing cannabis plants. (Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) In 2017, Tapia filed a motion pursuant to section 1473.7 to withdraw his plea and vacate his convictions on the ground he was not informed of the actual adverse immigration consequences of his plea. The trial court denied the motion. Tapia appeals, contending he is entitled to the requested relief because trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, he faults trial counsel for failing to advise him of the precise immigration consequences of his plea and for failing to negotiate a plea bargain with no adverse immigration consequences. We reject these contentions and affirm the trial court’s order denying his motion. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY Because Tapia pled no contest to the offenses, we take the facts of the offenses from the probation report. On October 25, 2012, law enforcement officers from the Madera County Narcotic Enforcement Team, Madera Sheriff’s Department, and Madera Police Department Response Unit executed search warrants at Tapia’s residence on Road 26 and at a second location on Ellis Street. At the Ellis Street property, officers found 143 live marijuana plants. There were three medical marijuana cards, including one for Tapia, that purported to allow 90 live plants and six pounds of processed marijuana for each card holder. Inside a wooden shed on the property were portions of marijuana plants hanging by strings and a large bucket containing freshly cut marijuana plants. In a trailer on the property, officers found a handgun and a shotgun; the shotgun had been reported stolen in Watsonville. The trailer also was being used as a location to dry marijuana. 2. According to Tapia’s brother, the marijuana was grown at the Ellis Street property and then taken to Tapia’s residence on Road 26. Tapia was present when officers arrived to execute the warrant at the Road 26 property. Officers found the garage of the residence had been converted to a marijuana processing center. Among the items in the converted garage were six pounds of marijuana and Reynolds plastic oven bags. Six individuals were in the garage when officers arrived. Officers found a revolver and a shotgun in Tapia’s bedroom closet and a rifle was in a shed on ...

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