People v. Griffin CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 12, 2021
DocketD077006
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Griffin CA4/1 (People v. Griffin CA4/1) 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
People v. Griffin CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 5/12/21 P. v. Griffin CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D077006

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD281192)

MAURICE LAMAR GRIFFIN,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Sharon B. Majors-Lewis, Judge. Affirmed. Christine M. Aros, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Pulos and Joseph C. Anagnos, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. I. INTRODUCTION A jury found Maurice Lamar Griffin guilty of one count of burglary (count 1; § 459)1 and found true the special allegation that the burglary was of an inhabited dwelling house (§ 460, subd. (a)). The jury also found Griffin guilty of one count of petty theft (§ 484), a lesser included offense of the charged offense of grand theft of personal property (count 2). Following the jury’s return of its verdicts, the trial court found true allegations that Griffin suffered a prior conviction that was a strike (§§ 667, subds. (b)–(i), 1170.12, & 668) and a serious felony (§ 667, subd. (a)), and that he was out on bail at the time of the current offenses (§ 12022.1, subd. (b)). The trial court sentenced Griffin to a total of ten years in prison, consisting of the middle term of four years for the burglary conviction, doubled due to the strike prior, and a consecutive two years for the on-bail enhancement. The court imposed a concurrent term of 365 days in the

custody of the sheriff on count 2.2 On appeal, Griffin claims that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support the jury’s true finding that the burglary he committed was of an inhabited dwelling house (§ 460, subd. (a)). Griffin also claims that the trial court abused its discretion in declining to dismiss his strike prior and in sentencing him to the middle term on the burglary count.

1 Unless otherwise specified, all subsequent statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 At sentencing, the People conceded that the prior conviction had been reduced to a misdemeanor and could not serve as the basis of a serious felony enhancement. (See People v. Park (2013) 56 Cal.4th 782, 795.) However, the conviction remained a strike for purposes of the Three Strikes law. (See §§ 667, subd. (d)(1), 1170.12; Park, supra, at p. 794.) 2 We affirm the judgment. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Griffin drove his car into the garage of St. Paul’s Villa (St. Paul’s), a senior living facility that houses approximately 140 residents. A gate to the garage was normally kept shut. However, on the day of the offenses, the gate was open because a resident was moving into the residence. The garage was on the ground floor of the building. Residences were located on the two floors above the garage; the residences and the garage shared the same walls. According to the facilities operations manager for St. Paul’s Senior Services, “some employees” and “a few” residents parked their vehicles in the garage. Furniture was also stored in the garage and residents occasionally left items, such as walkers and wheelchairs, in the garage when moving out. On the day of the offenses, Griffin entered the garage, drove to the end of the garage, backed up, and parked next to a maintenance room located

inside the garage.3 The door to the maintenance room was open, and a light was on inside. Jesus F. (Jesus), a maintenance technician, had recently stepped away from the room, leaving behind tools. The room contained a mix of tools, some owned by St. Paul’s and some owned by employees, including Jesus. After parking his car in the garage, Griffin got out the car, leaving the driver’s door open. Griffin then entered the maintenance room and came out. He proceeded to walk around the parking garage, return to his vehicle, open the rear passenger door, and walk back into the maintenance room. After

3 We base our description of Griffin’s acts on a police officer’s testimony summarizing a surveillance video that was shown to the jury. 3 several minutes, Griffin came out with two bags of tools and put the bags on the back seat of his car. Griffin then drove away, taking the tools. III. DISCUSSION

A. There is sufficient evidence in the record to support the jury’s true finding that Griffin committed a burglary of an inhabited dwelling house (§ 460, subd. (a))

Griffin claims that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support the jury’s true finding that he committed a burglary of an inhabited dwelling house (§ 460, subd. (a)). Specifically, Griffin contends that the garage at St. Paul’s cannot be considered an inhabited dwelling house. 1. Governing law a. The law governing review of sufficiency claims Griffin’s argument is premised in part on undisputed evidence, i.e., evidence pertaining to the structure of the senior living facility and evidence pertaining to Griffin’s acts during the offense. To the extent that Griffin’s claim is premised on such undisputed evidence, we review Griffin’s argument as to the legal sufficiency of that evidence to sustain the jury’s true finding de novo. (See People v. Villalobos (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 310, 316, fn. 3 [“The legal sufficiency of undisputed evidence to support a conviction is a question of law which we review de novo”].) Griffin also argues that “there was no substantial evidence regarding the residents’ use of the garage.” In evaluating this contention, we apply the ordinary substantial evidence standard of review. “[T]he relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, 319.) “[T]he court must review the whole record in the light most 4 favorable to the judgment below to determine whether it discloses substantial evidence—that is, evidence which is reasonable, credible, and of solid value— such that a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” (People v. Johnson (1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 578.) b. Substantive law i. Statutory law Section 459 provides in relevant part: “Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse or other building . . . with intent to commit grand or petit larceny or any felony is guilty of burglary.”

Section 460, subdivision (a) provides in relevant part: “Every burglary of an inhabited dwelling house . . . is burglary of the first degree.”

ii. Case law “A conviction for first degree burglary . . . requires ‘entry’ of an ‘inhabited dwelling house’ with the intent to commit a felony. (§§ 459, 460.)” (People v. Thorn (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 255, 261 (Thorn).) “ ‘[T]he term “inhabited dwelling house” means a “structure where people ordinarily live and which is currently being used for dwelling purposes. [Citation.] A place is an inhabited dwelling if a person with possessory rights uses the place as sleeping quarters intending to continue doing so in the future.” (Citations.)’ [Citation.] Courts have broadly interpreted the term ‘inhabited dwelling house’ to include a variety of structures and places . . .

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People v. Griffin CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-griffin-ca41-calctapp-2021.