P. v. Mejia CA4/1
Police officer John Mejia was convicted of falsely reporting to his department that his personal car had been stolen. (Veh. Code, § 10501, subd. (a).) He, his wife (Crystal Mejia), and his father (retired police officer Robert Mejia) were also convicted of presenting a false claim to an insurance company. (Pen. Code, § 550, subd. (a)(1).) The trial court placed defendants on probation for three years, and imposed various custody terms to be served through work release or electronic monitoring.
On appeal, defendants contend the trial court erred by denying Robert's Batson/Wheeler motion, which he asserted after the prosecutor used four of his first five peremptory challenges to strike Hispanic jurors. Each defendant also contends insufficient evidence supports his or her conviction on the insurance fraud count. We agree insufficient evidence supports Crystal's conviction, and reverse it on that basis. As to John and Robert, we affirm in all respects.
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