People v. Washington CA2/5

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 22, 2015
DocketB254933
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Washington CA2/5 (People v. Washington CA2/5) 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
People v. Washington CA2/5, (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 4/22/15 P. v. Washington CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B254933

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. MA061145) v.

KENNETH LEROY WASHINGTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Kathleen Blanchard, Judge. Affirmed with directions. Emily H. Lowther, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Victoria B. Wilson and Jessica C. Owen, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. I. INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted defendant, Kenneth Leroy Washington, of burglary (Pen. Code,1 § 459), theft of services valued in excess of $950 (§ 498, subd. (b)), and forgery (§ 470, subd. (d)). The trial court found defendant had sustained a prior felony conviction within the meaning of sections 667, subdivision (d) and 1170.12, subdivision (b). Defendant was sentenced to four years in state prison. We affirm with directions to amend the abstract of judgment.

II. THE EVIDENCE

A. The Prosecution’s Case

On September 26, 2013, Castlestone Properties acquired a single-family residence in the city of Little Rock, County of Los Angeles. Castlestone Properties agents discovered defendant and his wife, Sherry Washington, were residing on the property. Also residing in the residence was Donald Berdon. Defendant claimed to have a lease for the property, but he never provided a copy to any Castlestone Properties employees. A Castlestone Properties employee, Lauren Karnstedt, contacted the pertinent utility companies. Ms. Karnstedt learned there had been no utility service to the property for several years. On October 21, 2013, Detective James Moser went to the property to investigate. None of the three occupants had a key to the house. Defendant spoke to Detective Moser. Defendant said he was leasing space in the house from the owner for $800 per month. Defendant identified the owner as Chris Brown. But defendant did not have any receipts for rent paid. Moreover, defendant had not seen or spoken with the purported

1 Further statutory references are to the Penal Code except where otherwise noted.

2 property owner, Mr. Brown, for several months. And defendant had no contact information for Mr. Brown. As a result, defendant said, he had ceased paying rent. Defendant showed Detective Moser a document entitled “Residential Lease.” The lease named defendant as the tenant. Named as the lessor was defendant’s wife, Ms. Washington. The stated monthly rent was $500, not $800. Defendant and his wife had both signed the agreement as lessors rather than lessees. And the contract named Cameron Pann and Wana Collum as the lessor’s agents. Defendant was unable to explain who they were or why their names were listed on the lease as the lessor’s agents. Defendant had no contact information for either Mr. Pann or Ms. Collum. Detective Moser arrested defendant. When questioned, defendant admitted the rental agreement was not “real,” that it was “fictitious.” Detective Moser also arrested defendant’s wife. When defendant saw Ms. Washington had been arrested, he offered to tell the truth in return for her release. Detective Moser testified, “[Defendant] said if I let his wife go, that he would be honest with me.” Detective Moser entered the home and found it was fully furnished; it appeared people had been living there for some time. Moreover, all three utility services were in use. Detective Moser saw extension cords running through a bedroom window, down the baseboard and into electronic devices. Detective Moser investigated the utility connections outside the home. The water connection from the street to the house had been rigged. As a result, the water meter was not engaged. With the illegal service connection in place, there was no way for the utility to detect if water was being used. Nor was it possible to measure the amount of water use. The gas meter had also been tampered with. The locking mechanism had been pried open. And the electric meter had been altered so that the usage data was not being transmitted to the power company. Electrical service to the property had been cut off as of October 27, 2011. On March 5, 2012, Southern California Edison employees had installed a new meter at the unoccupied property. At that time, the meter read 0000. On October 21, 2013, the meter showed 3,183 kilowatts of electricity had been used.

3 Pradeep Kumar was a revenue protection investigator for Southern California Edison. Mr. Kumar calculated the value of the illegally acquired electricity based on the size of the house and the average household usage in the neighborhood. Mr. Kumar estimated the electricity had been illegally in use commencing June 21, 2012, four days after defendant admittedly began residing in the home. Mr. Kumar also estimated the illegal electrical use ceased on October 21, 2013, when defendant was arrested. Electricity was charged at 31 cents per kilowatt from May 31 through October 31 of each year. Electricity was charged at 29 cents per kilowatt from November 1 through May 30 of each year. At 31 cents per kilowatt, the value of the stolen electricity was $976.76.

B. The Defense Case

Defendant testified in his own defense. Defendant testified to meeting the lessor, Mr. Brown, at the Lancaster courthouse. They spoke. Defendant said he was looking for a place to live. Mr. Brown said, “Well, I got a big ‘ole house . . . .” The house was around the corner from where defendant resided. Defendant visited Mr. Brown’s house and decided to move in. Defendant moved in on June 17, 2013. There were several other people living in the home when defendant and Ms. Washington took up residence. Mr. Brown was living in the house with his fiancée, identified only as “Dotty.” Defendant testified: “[T]he old man that died was [Dotty’s] grandfather or something. And she had told me that she was practically raised there, so I just assumed that she lived there . . . for many years . . . .” Two others were also in residence, according to defendant, and they were identified only as “Doc” and “Rere.” The persons identified only as Dotty, Doc and Rere all left some time after defendant moved in. Defendant and Mr. Brown entered into a verbal agreement. Defendant would help take care of the property. Together, defendant and Mr. Brown made some improvements to the house. They replaced a bathroom sink and repaired a toilet and a leaking bathtub. They also worked in the yard clearing tumbleweeds and chopping up a felled tree.

4 Defendant admitted using the water, gas and electricity in the house. Defendant denied tampering with or diverting any utilities. He denied instructing others to do so. Defendant denied any knowledge the utilities had been diverted. Under the rental agreement, the utilities were included in defendant’s rent. The lease specifically stated the landlord was to pay for “gas, water, light, trash.” Defendant believed Mr. Brown, the alleged lessor, was paying for the utilities. Defendant further testified there were no interruptions in the utility services while he lived in the home. Defendant identified Mr. Berdon—who occupied the master bedroom—as the property’s caretaker. Defendant testified he had keys to the home. Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Washington CA2/5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-washington-ca25-calctapp-2015.