P. v. Razo
While working for a subsidiary of Valley Harvesting and Packing (Valley Harvesting), Ricardo Razo claimed to have suffered various injuries after bumping his head on a metal door at his place of employment. After Razo initiated a workers' compensation claim based on the alleged injury, Valley Harvesting made various payments related to that claim to third parties on Razo's behalf. Valley Harvesting also provided Razo with temporary and permanent disability payments. A jury found Razo guilty of two counts of insurance fraud (Ins. Code, 1871.4, subd. (a)(1), Pen. Code, 550, subd. (a)(1))[1](counts 1 and 2), and grand theft by false pretenses ( 487, subd. (a)) (count 3). The trial court placed Razo on formal probation for three years, subject to various conditions, including that he serve 240 days in jail and pay $53,109.46 in restitution to Valley Harvesting. On appeal, Razo claims that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury pursuant to CALCRIM No. 224 regarding the jury's consideration of circumstantial evidence. Razo also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to offset the amount of victim restitution awarded to Valley Harvesting by the amount the company expended on Razo's alleged legitimate workplace injury, unrelated to any fraud. Court affirm the judgment.
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