P. v. Esco CA1/5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 20, 2013
DocketA134357
StatusUnpublished

This text of P. v. Esco CA1/5 (P. v. Esco CA1/5) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
P. v. Esco CA1/5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Filed 3/20/13 P. v. Esco CA1/5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A134357 v. (Contra Costa County FREDDIE BLACK ESCO, SR., Super. Ct. No. 05-110949-5) Defendant and Appellant. _____________________________________/

A jury convicted appellant Freddie Black Esco, Sr., of attempted second degree robbery (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 664),1 second degree burglary (§§ 459, 460), and petty theft with a prior theft conviction (§§ 484, 666). The court sentenced appellant to state prison. On appeal, appellant contends: (1) the court erred by denying his motion to impeach a prosecution witness with preliminary hearing testimony pursuant to Evidence Code section 1235; (2) the court failed to instruct the jury with CALCRIM No. 3519, the instruction used when greater and lesser included offenses are separately charged; and (3) he is entitled to 42 days of additional presentence conduct credits. We reverse appellant’s petty theft conviction (§ 484, 666) because it is a lesser included offense of attempted robbery (§§ 211, 664). As modified, we affirm the judgment.

1 Unless otherwise noted, all further statutory references are to the Penal Code. 1 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The People charged appellant with second degree robbery (§§ 211, 212.5, subd. (c)) (count one), second degree burglary (§§ 459, 460, subd. (b)) (count two), and petty theft with a prior conviction (§§ 484, 666) (count three). The information also alleged appellant used a deadly and dangerous weapon in the commission of counts one and two (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). On the afternoon of May 17, 2011, Lou Thomas was working as a security officer at a “Smart & Final” store in San Pablo when she saw a man — later identified as appellant — walk through the store. Thomas “kept a close eye” on appellant. He walked down the alcohol aisle, “grab[bed]” a bottle of Jack Daniels, and walked away. When appellant came back to the alcohol aisle, he did not have the bottle in his hand. The sleeves of appellant’s puffy jacket were bulging. Thomas asked appellant to follow her to the office. In response, appellant pulled the bottle of Jack Daniels out of his jacket and set it on one of the shelves. Thomas “grabbed the bottle and . . . asked [appellant] to give [her] everything else he had in his jacket because it was obvious that he had more than just the bottle in his jacket.” Appellant said he did not have anything else in his jacket and started walking out the front door. Smart & Final surveillance footage showed appellant taking items from the “deli area” of the store without attempting to pay for the items “tucked” in his jacket. Thomas followed appellant. A few seconds later, store manager Kevin Lee arrived. As Thomas, Lee, and appellant stood a few feet outside the door, Thomas told appellant she would let him go if he returned the merchandise. Appellant continued to claim he had nothing. Lee also told appellant to give “the items back and he could go on his way.” Lee and Thomas spent about 10 to 15 minutes with appellant in front of the store, “trying to delay [until] the cops got there.” During that time, Lee asked appellant to return the merchandise, but appellant did not comply. Lee touched appellant “very gently” about three times and tried to persuade him to return the items by saying, “Come on, man[;] please give us our things back.” The touch was not aggressive; it was not a push, but rather a “light tap.” At that point, appellant

2 “walked up on” Lee, prompting Lee to put up his forearm because appellant was encroaching on his personal space. Appellant walked into Lee’s forearm. Appellant became aggravated and pulled out a pocket knife with a jagged edge and flipped it open.2 As he pulled out the knife, appellant said, “[i]f you touch me again, I’ll use this knife on you.” Lee — who was about an arm’s length away from appellant — backed away from appellant to “give him some space so that he . . . wouldn’t try to do anything funny.” Lee did not touch appellant after he pulled out the knife. He “feared [for his] safety” because he thought appellant might stab him. Thomas was afraid for Lee’s safety. Lee asked appellant “one more time” to return the merchandise, but he refused. Appellant continued to claim he did not have any other items from the store and told Lee to “go ahead and call the cops.” Lee asked Thomas to call the police and she did. Appellant left. The police stopped appellant near the store and found his jacket, which contained several packages of steak and a bottle of tequila. The jury convicted appellant of attempted robbery, a lesser included offense to robbery charged in count one, second degree burglary (count two), and petty theft with a prior theft conviction (count three). The jury found not true the allegation appellant used a deadly or dangerous weapon in the commission of the attempted robbery or burglary. At a December 2011 sentencing hearing, the trial court found true the enhancement regarding prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) and imposed a two-year prison sentence. The court stated the petty theft conviction was “a lesser included crime and cannot be sentenced” and the initial abstract of judgment did not list the petty theft conviction. In early January 2012, the court held a resentencing hearing. At that hearing, the court imposed a two-year prison term for the petty theft conviction (count three) and ordered the term stayed pursuant to section 654.

2 Lee did not see appellant open the knife, but Thomas did. 3 DISCUSSION The Exclusion of Lee’s Preliminary Hearing Testimony Was Not Erroneous Appellant contends the court erred by denying his motion to impeach Lee with his preliminary hearing testimony pursuant to Evidence Code section 1235. On cross-examination, Lee stated, “I believe after [appellant] pulled the knife, I no longer made the request” for him to return the merchandise. Lee, admitted, however, that he was not “100 percent” sure of the sequence of events after appellant pulled out the knife. At some point, Lee told appellant, “All I want is the stuff back. You can give it to me, or you can give it to the police. . . . It’s much easier to give it to me.” Appellant said, “Go ahead, call the police.” Lee testified he was not sure whether this exchange occurred before or after appellant pulled out the knife. Lee explained, “[o]nce the knife was pulled, . . . or once the threat was made, I believe I no longer asked [appellant] again because I told [Thomas] to call the police.” In response to additional questioning, Lee stated, “Like I said, I believe after he made the threat, I no longer made the comments of asking him to give me the stuff back. . . . [T]o the best of my knowledge[,] I did not continue to ask him to give me the stuff back.” Lee listened to a recording of his statement to the police. On redirect examination, he stated he wanted to revise his testimony after listening to the recording. He testified, “I guess I did ask [appellant] after the knife was shown whether — gave him the option to return the product again.” The court excused Lee subject to recall. Outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel asked to “read a portion of the preliminary hearing transcript to the jury” where Lee testified appellant pulled out a knife and “proceeded to keep walking towards San Pablo Avenue. I . . . every couple of steps I kept giving him the opportunity to give me the merchandise. He kept refusing. I turned to . . . Thomas and asked her to call the [police]. Didn’t phase him.

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Bluebook (online)
P. v. Esco CA1/5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/p-v-esco-ca15-calctapp-2013.