California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Benavidez, C058378 (Cal. App. 8/18/2009), C058378 (Cal. App. 2009):
First, one prior conviction is sufficient to impose the upper term (People v. Black, supra, 41 Cal.4th at p. 816), and defendant has six felony and 12 misdemeanor prior convictions. Further, nothing in the record supports defendant's assertion that he has not had the opportunity to address his substance abuse problem. And, for reasons set forth in section I, we do not consider defendant's attempts to evade police officers by means of high-speed chases and driving while intoxicated nonserious offenses, as they are fraught with potentially fatal consequences for others near or in defendant's path. Finally, the other mitigating factors were all before the court and, to the extent weighing may be required, were in the absence of any evidence to the contrary presumably considered by the trial court in arriving at its decision. (See Evid. Code, 664 [official duty presumed to have been regularly performed].)
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