PEOPLE v. SAIBU







Filed 1/4/11; part. pub order 1/11/11 (see end of opn.)




COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. SADIQ SAIBU et al., Defendants and Appellants.

D054980 (Super. Ct. No. SCD207640)

APPEALS from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Charles G. Rogers, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Defendants Sadiq Saibu and Antonio Valentino appeal from their convictions and sentences after a jury trial. Saibu and Valentino were convicted for their roles in committing a robbery of a video store, two attempted robberies of a liquor store, and a murder in the same liquor store during one of the attempted robberies.
On appeal, Saibu and Valentino jointly argue that the trial court erred in (1) admitting evidence concerning a bank robbery for which both men were previously convicted; (2) admitting digitally enhanced photographs created from surveillance video of the liquor store, as well as expert testimony regarding the enhancement process; and (3) admitting a videotape of an interview of Saibu's cousin conducted by police detectives. Saibu also contends that the trial court committed reversible error in failing to instruct the jury with CALCRIM No. 703 with respect to the felony-murder special circumstance allegation, and that there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction for attempted murder. Valentino contends that his abstract of judgment contains a number of errors, and that these errors must be corrected. Finally, both defendants assert that their convictions must be reversed due to the collective prejudice from the court's cumulative errors.
We conclude that the trial court erred in failing to properly instruct the jury with respect to the felony-murder special circumstance allegation against Saibu, and that this error requires reversal of the jury's true finding as to that special circumstance. We also conclude that Valentino's abstract of judgment must be corrected. However, we reject the defendants' remaining claims of error, and therefore otherwise affirm the judgment. We remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings as may be necessary with respect to the felony-murder special circumstance allegation against Saibu, and for correction of Valentino's abstract of judgment.
II.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Factual background
During the summer of 2005, Saibu and Valentino spent time with Raheem Judd, Keith Coleman, Coleman's girlfriend Rachel Kinsel, Dewayne Cummings and Ken Buckley at Judd's mother's home on Clay Street in southeast San Diego.
1. The July 7, 2005 Hollywood Video store robbery (counts 6 & 7)
At approximately 9:45 p.m. on July 7, 2005, two African-American men wearing hooded sweatshirts entered a Hollywood Video store on El Cajon Boulevard. One man was wearing a gray sweatshirt, and the other was wearing a black sweatshirt. Both men covered the lower portions of their faces with black bandanas. Shift leader Toni Oliver was working near the entrance of the store that night. As the two men entered the store, Oliver turned to greet them. After she turned away, she heard one of the men shout, "Everyone get down. This is a robbery."
The man who was wearing the gray hooded sweatshirt had darker skin than the other man and was carrying a shotgun. The man with the shotgun said something like, "I don't want to have to kill someone tonight," or "Am I going to have to kill anybody today‌" The man in the black sweatshirt had a pistol and a black duffel bag. The man in the black sweatshirt went to the register and told Oliver to "[h]urry up" and "[g]ive [him] the money." Oliver gave the man approximately $75 from the register. Another employee, June Collins, emptied another register and put the money in the duffel bag that the man in the black sweatshirt was carrying.
Mathew Gillie worked at the Hollywood Video store in an area of the store called Game Crazy. Game Crazy closed at 10:00 p.m., although the rest of the store remained open until midnight. Gillie was preparing to close Game Crazy when he heard someone yelling. Gillie saw a man wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and holding a shotgun inside the store. That man told Gillie not to play around or mess with him. Based on the man's voice, Gillie believed that the man was African-American. Gillie gave the man approximately $650, which was the money for the night deposit from the Game Crazy register.
Alejandro Rivera and Stephanie Jenkins lived in an apartment located across the alley behind the Hollywood Video store. On the night of the robbery, they were moving out of their apartment. Rivera was driving a U-Haul truck down the alley intending to back the truck into the driveway of the apartment when he saw two individuals who were wearing baggy clothes―including hooded sweatshirts―looking into the Hollywood Video store. As Rivera was watching the men, they turned the corner and disappeared.
Jenkins, who had just driven her car through the parking lot of the Hollywood Video store, drove into the alley and parked her car across the alley from the U-Haul truck. She heard someone yelling and then saw two men holding guns, running down the alley. The men had their hoods pulled up over their heads, partially concealing their faces. However, the lighting in the alley was good, and Jenkins could see the top portions of the men's faces. She believed that both men were African-American.
Rivera also saw the men running through the alley. The men were wearing bandanas and holding guns. The men ran "full speed" toward the U-Haul truck, and then ran through the small space between the truck and the apartment building. The men continued running to the end of the alley and turned right at the street. Rivera and Jenkins ran into their apartment and did not go back outside until they saw that police officers had arrived.
The Hollywood Video store had five surveillance cameras. San Diego police officers arrived at the store a few minutes after the robbery. Oliver provided the surveillance video of the robbery to Detective Ronald Hall. The video was played for the jury at trial. Oliver testified that the surveillance video accurately depicted the robbery.
2. The July 12, 2005 T&M Liquor store attempted robbery (count 5)
At approximately 11:15 p.m. on July 12, 2005, Farouq Mikho was counting money and preparing the register receipts at the front counter of the T&M Liquor store, which is located on El Cajon Boulevard in the City Heights area of San Diego. Mikho's girlfriend, Paula Vargas, was standing at the counter talking to Mikho, waiting for him to close the store.
Mikho saw a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood over his head and a bandana covering his nose and mouth. The man pointed a shotgun at Mikho's face and yelled for Mikho to "give him the money." The man also pointed the gun at Vargas and directed her to "get down" and not to move. Vargas could see the man's face and could tell that he was a dark-skinned African-American.
Mikho grabbed the money out of the register and threw it on the counter. The man told Mikho to put the money in a bag. As Mikho reached for a bag, he pressed the silent alarm button.
Augustine Garcia was in the cooler at the back of the store when he heard a man yelling. Garcia heard the man say, "Put the money in the bag or I'm going to blow your head off," or something similar to that, and he concluded that "it was like a holdup." Garcia started running toward the front of the store and saw a man pointing a shotgun at Mikho.
Garcia, who is in his 50's and is five-feet-four inches tall, came up behind the man and grabbed the man's elbows. The man was stiff and holding the gun high and close to his body. Garcia was able to lift the man about three or four inches off the ground and turn the man's body, and the gun, away from Mikho and Vargas. Garcia and the man both fell to the floor, and Garcia landed on top of the man. The force of hitting the floor knocked the shotgun out of the man's hands and it slid away from both of them. The man struggled to get out from underneath Garcia, who was attempting to hold him down. The man eventually was able to get up and run out the door.
Garcia retrieved the shotgun and ran after the man. When the man was approximately two or three feet away from the alley, Garcia pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire, and a shell was ejected from the chamber. Garcia watched the man run into the alley, but decided not to follow him and instead ran back to the liquor store.
Officers patrolling the area received a call about the robbery at 11:17 p.m. and arrived on the scene at 11:20 p.m. Garcia showed officers the shotgun, which at this point was on the floor behind the front counter. Garcia also directed the officers to the shotgun shell that was ejected when he attempted to fire the gun at the robber. Officer David Yu collected the rifle, the six shells inside the rifle, and the shell that had been ejected outside the store.
Detective Eugene Bojorquez collected surveillance video of the attempted robbery from the liquor store's security camera. The video was played for the jury at trial. Vargas testified that the video accurately reflected the incident.
On April 4, 2007, Mikho attended a live lineup. Each of the men in the lineup held a shotgun and said, "Give me the 'F' money." Mikho identified the men in positions three and four as sharing some similarities with the suspect from the July 12, 2005 incident. However, Mikho said that the man in position number four did not have the dark skin tone of the suspect, while the skin tone of the person in position three matched the skin tone of the robber. That man's eyes and nose also looked familiar to Mikho. The man in position number 3 was Saibu.
The shotgun and shotgun shells that police recovered from the scene were tested for DNA. The lab technician determined that Saibu was a major contributor of the DNA that was found on the textured areas and on the trigger of the shotgun.
3. The July 13, 2005 T&M Liquor store murder, attempted murder
and attempted robbery (counts 1, 2 and 3)

At approximately 8:00 a.m. on July 13, 2005, Lap Tran drove his white Mercedes Benz to the auto repair shop that he owns in Lemon Grove. Tran parked the car in front of the shop and left the keys in the car. At around 11:00 a.m., Tran noticed that his car was gone.
Tran had seen Valentino with another customer at the repair shop the day before his car was stolen. The auto repair shop was located approximately a block and a half from the Value Inn Hotel, where Valentino had been staying.^[1]
That day, Ayesha Majid was sleeping on the couch of an apartment that she shared with her brother, Naz Almajid, when Saibu, who is her cousin, came to the apartment. Saibu was being very loud and woke her up. Between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Majid telephoned Almajid to tell him that Saibu had come over to the apartment and that he had gone into Almajid's bedroom.
Later that afternoon, Tran's white Mercedes was used in an attempted robbery at the T&M Liquor store. Store manager Waleed Yakou was sitting behind the counter at the cash register talking with his friend and candy, cigar and cigarette vendor, Doraid Toma, who was standing on the customer side of the counter near the entrance to the store. At approximately 3:40 p.m., a man wearing dark clothing, a bandana on his face, and a hooded sweatshirt with the hood over his head walked into the liquor store. The man pointed a silver revolver at Yakou and said, "Give me the money." Yakou could see the man's face from the middle of his nose to his eyes. Based on the portion of the man's face that he could see, as well as the tone of the man's voice, Yakou thought that the man was African-American and about 19 to 21 years old.
Yakou told the man to calm down and tried to open the cash register. The man said, "Give me the money" several times, and Toma turned in reaction to the man's loud voice. The man then shot Toma in the chest from less than five feet away. Toma appeared surprised and tried to back away from the man. The man walked toward Toma and, as Toma fell to the floor, shot him again.
While the man was shooting Toma, Yakou pressed the silent alarm button. The man then walked toward Yakou, who was ducking behind the counter. The man looked over the counter and fired two shots in Yakou's direction. Neither bullet hit Yakou. The man then ran out of the store without taking any money.
Yakou grabbed a gun that was in a drawer behind the counter and went to check on Toma. Toma was bleeding from his mouth and indicated to Yakou that he could not breathe.
At 4:45 p.m., San Diego Police Officers Jason Scott and Thomas Seiver separately responded to a call regarding the shooting at the liquor store. Scott arrived to find Yakou with blood on his hands, arms, and shirt, saying, "He shot him." Someone told Scott that the suspect had run out of the store and had turned southbound in the alley.
Both of the police officers attempted to aid Toma by administering CPR. Toma was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Emergency medical personnel arrived at the liquor store and determined that Toma was dead. Toma died from gunshot wounds to his shoulder and torso. A bullet was recovered from his body during an autopsy. Officers also recovered two other bullets from the scene of the shooting.
Officer Scott viewed surveillance video from the liquor store and broadcast a description of the shooting suspect to police officers in the area. The surveillance video was played for the jury. Yakou testified that the video accurately reflected the events that he witnessed that day.
Maria Morales lived in an apartment located about two blocks from the T&M Liquor store. Morales was standing in the alley behind her apartment waiting for her mother when she saw a white Mercedes Benz in the alley. The driver of the Mercedes drove toward her and parked. Two African-American men got out of the car and started to change clothes, which Morales thought was suspicious. The passenger had lighter skin than the driver. The passenger removed what looked like black tights from his head. When he removed the tights, Morales could see that he had curly hair. Both men walked away from the car in the alley wearing dark clothes. Police later lifted Valentino's left palm print and right palm print from the trunk of the Mercedes.
That day, Morales attended two live lineups, but was unable to identify anyone. However, in court, Morales identified Valentino as the passenger of the white Mercedes. Although his hair was shorter and in braids at trial, she recognized his build, height, and the portion of his face that she had seen on the day of the shooting.
Naz Almajid testified that he clocked out from his job at a Longs Drug store on July 13, 2005 at 10:30 p.m. He went home and saw the news on television. Almajid saw a video clip about the shooting at the T&M Liquor store and Toma's murder.^[2] Almajid knew Toma, and was familiar with the liquor store, which was located two blocks from his apartment.
Almajid testified that he thought it was possible that a .38-caliber pistol that he had purchased from a coworker had been used in the shooting. Almajid explained that he thought the gun might be his because his sister had called him and told him that Saibu had visited their apartment and gone into Almajid's bedroom, where Almajid kept the gun, the gun in the video was the same caliber as his gun, and the number of shots that had been fired at the liquor store was the same as the number of bullets that were in the gun. Almajid looked on the internet for video of the shooting, and then looked for his .38-caliber pistol in his bedroom. He was unable to find the gun.
That night, Almajid had a telephone conversation with Saibu during which he asked Saibu, "That wasn't you right‌" Saibu answered, "No, it wasn't me but . . . ." Almajid asked Saibu, "Were you famous[‌]" Saibu responded, "Maybe." "Why are you asking‌"
In late December 2005, the coworker from whom Almajid had bought the pistol received a telephone call from Almajid. Almajid asked the man if he was watching the television program "America's Most Wanted." The coworker replied that he was not. Almajid then told the man that the gun the man had sold to Almajid had been used in a robbery. Almajid said that his cousin had come to his house to get the gun, and that the gun had been used to kill someone. The coworker told detectives that Almajid had told him that after the robbery his cousin had taken the gun to Florida and that everything was "okay."
4. The uncharged August 29, 2005 Wells Fargo Bank robbery
On August 29, 2005, at approximately 9:40 a.m., three African-American men wearing hooded sweatshirts and bandanas over their faces entered the Wells Fargo Bank on Black Mountain Road in San Diego. Witnesses saw three weapons—a shotgun, an assault rifle, and a machine gun pistol. Photographs taken from surveillance video at the bank showed one man holding a black duffel bag and wearing black clothing and black gloves, and another man pointing a weapon.
The men yelled that it was a robbery and ordered the customers and bank employees to the ground. Two of the men jumped over the counter and demanded money from the bank employees. The men grabbed money from two teller drawers, and then ordered several employees into the vault area in the back of the bank. One of the men pointed a gun at an employee and demanded that she open the vault. After the employee opened the vault, the men took money from inside the vault and put it into the black duffel bag. After the men got the money from the vault and the teller drawers, they ran out of the bank.
The men ran to a waiting silver vehicle that was parked in front of the bank. That vehicle had been reported stolen the day before by the owner, who had left the key in the ignition while he went into a store. The location where the vehicle had been stolen was a few blocks away from where Coleman and Judd lived, i.e., the home where Saibu and Valentino had been hanging out that summer. Police officers eventually recovered the vehicle about three or four blocks away from the bank.
A witness who was driving on Ricker Road noticed two men, dressed all in black, running from a silver vehicle and getting into a red vehicle. The witness thought that these circumstances were suspicious, so he wrote down the license plate number of the red vehicle. Police traced ownership of the red vehicle to Rachel Kinsel, who was Coleman's girlfriend.
Police interviewed Kinsel, and subsequently conducted a search of Dewayne Cummings's home, where they recovered weapons.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent David Eaton testified that Saibu and Valentino had been identified as two of the three men who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank, and that both had been tried and convicted for that robbery. Ken Buckley was also considered a person of interest in the Wells Fargo Bank robbery.
5. Buckley's plea agreement and testimony
Buckley was arrested on September 8, 2005, along with Valentino, and was charged with bank robbery. Buckley was a friend of Valentino's and knew Saibu. Buckley testified for the prosecution in this case, pursuant to plea agreement. He identified both Saibu and Valentino in court.
According to Buckley, Valentino often stayed at the Value Inn in Lemon Grove. Buckley worked at an adult bookstore located near the Value Inn. Valentino would visit Buckley at the bookstore.
Buckley was tried with Saibu and Valentino on charges related to the Wells Fargo Bank robbery. During that trial, Buckley participated in a "free talk" that was attended by the prosecutor, Detective Anthony Johnson (who was investigating the T&M Liquor store murder), and Buckley's defense counsel. Buckley disclosed information that he knew about the T&M Liquor store murder, with the understanding that the information would not be used unless Buckley agreed to cooperate with the prosecutor. Buckley originally decided not to cooperate, and did not testify against Saibu or Valentino in the trial of the Wells Fargo robbery. At the conclusion of that trial, the jury convicted Saibu and Valentino, but was unable to reach a unanimous verdict as to Buckley. Buckley was ordered to return for retrial.
In March 2007, Buckley reached an agreement with the prosecutor to testify in this case. Buckley pled guilty to robbery with the use of a firearm for his role in the Wells Fargo Bank robbery. After Buckley provided testimony at the preliminary hearing in this case, he was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Buckley testified about a conversation that he had with Valentino regarding the T&M Liquor store shooting. Valentino had picked up Buckley from Judd's house and the two went to a car wash. Valentino asked Buckley if he had heard anything about robberies that had taken place in the area. Valentino told Buckley that Buckley could not tell anyone about what Valentino was going to say.
Valentino proceeded to tell Buckley that he had robbed a store and just "shot the guy's head off with the gauge." Valentino said that the shooting had taken place on
El Cajon Boulevard. Valentino was angry because they were supposed to get $50,000 from the robbery, but ended up not getting any money.
Approximately a week after this conversation, Buckley went to Judd's house to talk with Saibu and Valentino about participating in a robbery with them. Saibu was planning the robbery, and Buckley was going to be the driver. Buckley heard Saibu say to Valentino, "Man, . . . I just told you to rob the place. I didn't know you [were] going there to shoot the guy['s] head off." Valentino responded, "Man, don't talk about that," and then walked out of the room.
While awaiting trial in the Wells Fargo Bank robbery case, Buckley spoke with Saibu while they were being detained together in the same jail cell. Buckley told Saibu that his lawyer had allowed him to see videotapes of the robberies and the shooting at the T&M Liquor store. Buckley mentioned that he had seen the gray BMW, and Saibu responded that the car that was used was not a gray BMW, but rather, a white Mercedes.
At the trial in the present case, Buckley viewed the surveillance video of the Hollywood Video robbery. Buckley had seen this video during his initial "free talk," and had told the detective that the man wearing the gray hooded sweatshirt was built like Saibu. Buckley believed that the other man was Valentino. According to Buckley, at the time of the robbery of the Hollywood Video store, Valentino had long, black curly hair, which was pushing up the hood of Valentino's sweatshirt.
Buckley also viewed video of the July 12 attempted robbery of the T&M Liquor store. Prior to trial, Buckley had told detectives that the robber could have been either Saibu or Valentino, but said that the man had the same body type as Saibu and was wearing clothing that Buckley had previously seen Saibu wearing.
Buckley viewed video of the July 13 shooting, as well. Buckley testified that he had told the detective, during his "free talk" interview, that the man in that video had lighter skin than the man who attempted to rob the same store the day before, and that the man's skin tone and complexion matched Valentino's.
6. Kinsel's plea agreement and testimony
Rachel Kinsel agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the bank robbery case, and agreed to provide testimony in the T&M Liquor store shooting case. Kinsel received a four-year prison sentence in exchange for her cooperation.
Kinsel met Saibu and Valentino through her ex-boyfriend, Coleman. Coleman lived at Judd's mother's house during the summer of 2005. Kinsel and a group of people including Judd, Coleman, Cummings, Buckley, Valentino, and Saibu would hang out at that house, watch television, play video games, drink alcohol, and smoke marijuana.
Kinsel agreed to be the getaway driver for the Wells Fargo Bank robbery. That day, she drove her car to an apartment complex to pick up Saibu. Saibu was carrying a bag with guns in it, which he placed in the trunk. Kinsel and Saibu then drove to Cummings's house, where Valentino eventually arrived in a stolen car. Valentino said that he had waited for someone to leave the keys in the ignition so that he could steal a car. The men moved the bag of guns from Kinsel's car to the stolen car. The men then got into the stolen car, and Kinsel followed them to the bank. Kinsel parked her car and waited for the men to rob the bank. About 10 to 15 minutes later, the men returned and took off their bandanas before getting into Kinsel's car.
B. Procedural background
On June 23, 2008, the San Diego County District Attorney filed an amended information charging Saibu and Valentino with a number of counts related to the video store robbery and the two liquor store incidents.
Saibu was charged with one count of special circumstance murder (Pen. Code,^[3] §§ 187, subd. (a) and 190.2, subd. (a)(17) (count 1)); one count of attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a); 664 (count 2)); one count of attempted robbery (§§ 211, 664 (count 3), July 13, 2005 T&M Liquor store); one count of car theft (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a) (count 4)); one count of attempted robbery (§§ 211, 664 (count 5), July 12, 2005 T&M Liquor store); two counts of robbery (§ 211 (counts 6 and 7), July 7, 2005 Hollywood Video); and six counts of robbery related to incidents other than the Hollywood Video and T&M Liquor store incidents (§ 211 (counts 8-13)). The information also alleged that Saibu personally used a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)) with respect to counts 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 13, and that he had been convicted of car theft and had been imprisoned as a term of probation (§ 499, subd. (a)).
Valentino was charged with one count of special circumstance murder (§§ 187, subd. (a); 190.2, subd. (a)(17) (count 1)); one count of attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664 (count 2)); one count of attempted robbery (§§ 211, 664 (count 3), July 13, 2005 T&M Liquor store); one count of car theft (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a) (count 4)); and two counts of robbery (§ 211 (counts 6 and 7), July 7, 2005 Hollywood Video). The information also alleged that Valentino personally discharged a handgun in committing the offenses charged in counts 1 and 3 (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)); personally discharged a handgun in committing the offense charged in count 2 (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)); and that he had previously been convicted of car theft and had been imprisoned as a term of probation (§ 499, subd. (a)).
On December 22, 2008, the trial court dismissed count 8 (alleged against Saibu only), pursuant to section 995.
The court severed trial of counts 9 through 13 (all alleged against Saibu only) after determining that trying those charges with the charges in counts 1 through 7 would be unduly prejudicial to both defendants.
Jury trial was held between February 3 and March 16, 2009. The jury found both defendants guilty on all counts, and found true the corresponding enhancement allegations.
On April 14, 2009, the trial court sentenced Saibu. Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 4.452, the court pronounced a single aggregate term by combining Saibu's sentence in case number SCD193335 with the sentence imposed in this case. In the current case, the court sentenced Saibu to life without the possibility of parole on count 1, plus an additional determinate sentence of two years four months on count 2; eight months on count 5, and three years four months for the corresponding firearm enhancement; five years on count 6, and 10 years for the corresponding firearm enhancement; and one year on count 7, with an additional three years four months for the corresponding firearm enhancement. The court stayed execution of the sentences on counts 3 and 4 pursuant to section 654. With respect to the sentence from the prior case (case No. SCD193335), the court sentenced Saibu to eight months on count 2; one year on count 3; one year on count 6; and one year on count 9, with an additional three years four months for the corresponding firearm enhancement. The court also stayed execution of the sentences on counts 1, 7 and 10, pursuant to section 654. Saibu's total determinate term was 32 years eight months.
The court sentenced Valentino on May 8, 2009. With respect to count 1, the court sentenced Valentino to life without the possibility of parole, plus 25 years to life for the firearm enhancement. The court also sentenced Valentino to nine years on count 2, plus 20 years for the corresponding firearm enhancement; one year on count 6; and one year on count 7. The court stayed execution of sentence on counts 3 and 4, as well as the enhancement as to count 3. The court also resentenced Valentino in case number SCD193335 in accordance with California Rules of Court, rule 4.452. The only change that the court made with respect to the sentence in the earlier case was to stay execution of Valentino's sentence on count 7, pursuant to section 654. Valentino's total determinate term was 31 years.
Both defendants filed timely notices of appeal.

III.
DISCUSSION
A. The Wells Fargo Bank robbery
1. Additional background
The prosecutor moved in limine to admit evidence of several bank robberies committed by the defendants, including the August 29, 2005 Wells Fargo Bank robbery, of which Saibu and Valentino had been convicted. The defendants opposed the motion and sought to exclude evidence of the uncharged bank robberies.
At a hearing on the parties' motions in limine, the trial court noted that it had read this court's nonpublished opinion in People v. Valentino et al. (Jan. 14, 2009, D049996), upholding Saibu and Valentino's convictions in a Wells Fargo Bank robbery on August 13, 2005, a World Savings Bank robbery on August 19, 2005, and the August 29, 2005 Wells Fargo Bank robbery.^[4]


TO BE CONTINUED AS PART II….


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