P. v. Victorian

Filed 4/25/06 P. v. Victorian CA2/1

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Judith L. Champagne, Judge. Affirmed.

Carlo Andreani, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Marc E. Turchin and Richard S. Moskowitz, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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INTRODUCTION

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction following a jury trial. The jury found defendant guilty of first degree burglary (Pen. Code § 459[1]), second degree robbery (§ 211), and assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245(a)(1)). The trial court found true the allegations defendant suffered four prior serious felony convictions (§§ 667, subds. (a), (b)-(i)) and served six prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The court struck the prior prison term enhancements and sentenced defendant to state prison for a term of 45 years to life.

Defendant challenges the trial court's denial of his Faretta[2] and Marsden[3] motions; its refusal to declare a mistrial and its discharge of a juror for refusal to deliberate; and its instruction on reasonable doubt. We affirm the judgment.

FACTS

Ramon Crisolo (Ramon) lived with his parents and his daughter, Amber, in a house on the 5800 block of Virginia Avenue in Hollywood. Ramon's brother, Edmund Crisolo (Edmund), had moved out of the family house and lived in an apartment with his girlfriend. He returned to the house regularly to help his parents.

On the morning of August 27, 2003, Ramon was the last person to leave the house, leaving at about 9:00 a.m. Before leaving, Ramon locked and secured the front door and the rest of the house. The house had a security door in front and security bars and latches on the windows.

Edmund arrived at the house about an hour later to drop off a couple of chairs for his parents. As he was carrying the chairs towards the side of the house, he heard a noise coming from inside the house, like someone moving around. He then heard the front security door slam. He went to the front of the house and saw defendant run from the house and out to the street. Defendant was wearing a windbreaker and carrying two bags over his shoulder, a green one and a red and blue one.

Defendant turned south on Bronson Avenue. Edmund ran after him for a brief period of time, then returned to his car and tried to follow defendant. He lost sight of defendant at the intersection of Bronson Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. He parked his car and began looking for defendant. Less than a minute later, he saw defendant walking towards a trash bin, where there was a shopping cart containing three bags. Defendant had removed his windbreaker and was wearing a gray tank top. As defendant began pushing the shopping cart toward the street, Edmund confronted him, saying he had seen defendant leave the Virginia Avenue house. Defendant asked what he was talking about. Defendant took the bags out of the shopping cart and tried to walk away, but Edmund kept blocking his path.

Edmund accused defendant of taking things from his parents' house and demanded that defendant return them. Defendant denied the accusation. Edmund demanded that he open the bags. Defendant knelt down and opened the red bag, revealing items belonging to Ramon and Amber. He then threatened to â€