People v. Trott CA2/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 18, 2014
DocketB252429
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Trott CA2/3 (People v. Trott CA2/3) 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. Trott CA2/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 9/18/14 P. v. Trott CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, B252429

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KA100824) v.

REBECCA ANN TROTT,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Mike Camacho, Judge. Affirmed.

Libby A. Ryan, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. Defendant and appellant, Rebecca Ann Trott, appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial which resulted in her conviction of second degree commercial burglary (Pen. Code, § 459),1 forgery (§ 484f, subd. (a)), and two counts of identity theft (§ 530.5, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced Trott to three years eight months in county jail. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 1. Facts. On September 26, 2013, Michael Lopez had been the security manager at the Diamond Bar Target Store for approximately one year and three months. As part of his duties, Lopez “overs[aw] . . . shortage[s] within the [store,] . . . includ[ing] external theft, internal theft, and shortage[s] through process.” With regard to “external theft,” Lopez investigated matters where “guests” came into the store and decided to steal merchandise. For example, he determined whether “they enter[ed] the store with or without the merchandise” and whether “upon exiting the store, [they] pass[ed] all manned registers without paying, then [left] the store.” In addition to theft and “shortage” problems, Lopez investigated such things as “check fraud” and “credit card fraud.” To assist Lopez in his work, there are security cameras located throughout the interior of the store and in the parking areas. In addition, he has access to various reports as well as receipts from every transaction which has been conducted in the store. From the reports and receipts, Lopez can tell the time, date and merchandise which has been purchased along with the dollar amount and payment method used. The system can also “synchronize the receipt [with] a matching video.” Using this equipment, Lopez can view “real time transaction[s]” and “review past transactions.” Lopez was working at the Diamond Bar Target Store on October 10, 2012. On that day, he received a telephone call from a credit union indicating there had been “fraudulent activity” on several accounts. By using the account information given to him, Lopez was able to “review the transactions [which had taken] place on those [credit

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

2 card] accounts and print out copies of [the] receipts, video and . . . exit still shots.” The credit union had given to Lopez between two and four account numbers and, when he put one account number into the system he discovered that someone had attempted to purchase “DVD’s and a few other electronic items . . . with two separate credit cards under two different names.” The purchases would have amounted to $158.76. The credit cards, which bore the names Shannon Dalton and Jaret Acton, had both been declined. However, when the individual attempted to buy the merchandise with a third credit card, bearing the name James Yang, the charge was approved. A video of the transaction showed a woman attempting to make the purchases. When the first two cards were declined, she left the store only to return approximately 10 minutes later. She succeeded in purchasing the merchandise with a third card. The video then showed the woman leave the store, but remain in the parking lot. After viewing all the footage from various video cameras, Lopez, assisted by a deputy sheriff, created an edited version of the transaction. That video, which consisted of shots of the suspect’s “entrance, transactions, and exit,” in addition to things Lopez “felt would be valuable” should the matter go to court, was shown to the jury. The video begins in the parking lot and shows a man and a woman getting out of a white car. As the two then approach the Target store, they split up. The woman, who is wearing a pink shirt and dark pants enters the main portion of the store and is next seen attempting to purchase DVD’s and electronic items with two different credit cards. Both cards were apparently rejected. After leaving the store for a short time, the woman in the pink shirt is shown returning to the cash register and, by using a third credit card, purchasing the merchandise. She is then shown leaving the store. A later portion of the video shows the white car pulling out of the parking lot. Lopez indicated the actions of the woman in the pink shirt and dark pants, as seen on the video, were “consistent with what [he had seen] on the transaction receipt[s]” and the “information [he had] received from the credit union.” Based on his training and experience, Lopez concluded the woman in the pink shirt was “the person [who] used [the] credit cards in [the fraudulent] transactions.”

3 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Derick Wayne Coleman was assigned to investigate the “identity theft incident” which occurred at the Diamond Bar Target Store. After reviewing the initial report, the detective collected and reviewed all the evidence, including the video. Coleman also reviewed a report, video tape and photographs which had been sent to him by a detective investigating a similar identity theft incident which had occurred at the Target store in Upland on the same day. The incident in Diamond Bar had taken place at approximately 12:25 p.m. and the incident at the Upland store had taken place at approximately 2:55 p.m. When Detective Coleman compared two surveillance photographs he had received from the detective at the Upland store with a still photograph “queued up” and paused from the video taken at the cash register at the Diamond Bar Target Store, he concluded they were pictures of the same person. The detective from Upland then sent to Coleman the name of the individual pictured in the photographs and Coleman “r[a]n” a photograph through Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records. Coleman received from the DMV a document with a photograph and the name of an individual. When Coleman compared the DMV photograph with those from the Upland and Diamond Bar Target stores, he determined they were all of the defendant, Rebecca Ann Trott. Coleman contacted four persons whose identities had allegedly been compromised. He initially spoke with Jaret Acton and James Yang to determine whether either man had given Trott, or anyone else, permission to use his credit card number to make a purchase at the Diamond Bar Target Store. Jaret Acton lives in Fresno and in October 2012 was a member of the Educational Employees Credit Union. Acton had several accounts at the credit union, as well as a credit union VISA credit and debit card. In October 2012, Acton was contacted by the credit union and informed “that someone was trying to use [his] card” at the Target store in Diamond Bar. Acton, who had never been to Diamond Bar, told the credit union representative he had not authorized use of the card and the credit union “stopped those charges.” When Acton was contacted about the fraudulent charges being made on his

4 credit card, the card was in his possession. The credit union, accordingly, cancelled that card and sent him a new one.

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People v. Trott CA2/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-trott-ca23-calctapp-2014.