P. v. Robinson
Filed 2/10/06 P. v. Robinson CA2/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOEL ROBINSON, Defendant and Appellant. | B176170 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NA054060) |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Tomson T. Ong. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions.
John A. Colucci, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Marc E. Turchin and Alene M. Games, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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A jury convicted appellant Joel Robinson of attempted carjacking in violation of Penal Code[1] sections 664 and 215, subdivision (a) (count 1) and misdemeanor hit-and-run driving in violation of Vehicle Code section 20002, subdivision (a) (count 2).[2] With respect to count 1, the jury found true the allegations that appellant had 11 prior robbery convictions within the meaning of sections 667, subdivisions (b) through (i) and 1170.12, subdivisions (a) through (d) (the three strikes law); and section 667, subdivision (a)(1).
On count 1, the trial court imposed 25 years to life pursuant to the three strikes law, adding 15 years for three 5-year priors pursuant to section 667, subdivision (a)(1). The court suspended sentence on the misdemeanor in count 2. Appellant's total sentence is 40 years to life.
Appellant appeals on the grounds that: (1) the court erred in instructing the jury with CALJIC No. 2.52, the flight instruction, since flight is an element of hit-and-run driving and because the flight was not related to the attempted carjacking charge, and (2) there was insufficient evidence that appellant's Illinois robbery conviction qualified as a strike prior under California law.
FACTS
I. Prosecution Evidence
At approximately 6:00 a.m. on August 25, 2004, Sharon Smith stopped at a doughnut shop on South Street in Long Beach. She bought coffee and returned to her car. She noticed a man walking down the passenger side of her car but assumed it was another customer of the shop. When she opened her car door, the man came around to the driver's side and knocked her back into her car. Smith was thrown sideways in the driver's seat with her legs outside the door. She began kicking and screaming, hoping the people inside the shop would hear her. The man told her to shut up or he would kill her. He eventually grabbed the keys, and the alarm fell off the key ring and under the car. Smith threw her coffee at the man and he moved enough so that she had a clear path to run back to the shop. She was let into the shop, where she learned that the 911 operator was on the telephone.
Shortly thereafter, Smith looked out the back door of the shop and saw that her car was still there and no one was around. The police arrived and accompanied her to her car. The keys were in the ignition, and it appeared someone had tried to start the car because the wiper blades were up. The car was a 1995 Toyota with a standard shift and a starter switch in the clutch. One had to engage the clutch in order to start the car. Smith remembered hearing a chirp during the struggle, and she suspected the alarm's kill-switch had been engaged, which would also prevent the vehicle from being started. Smith remembered that the man who attacked her was African-American with large eyes. He was approximately 40 years old and five feet nine inches in height.
On the same day, at approximately 9:00 a.m., Ronald Johnson was inside his home on Western Avenue in Los Angeles. He heard a loud bang and immediately went outside, where he saw that his two cars had been hit. He looked down the street and saw that a red car had been knocked into the curb as well. He saw a black car behind it, which appeared to be the car that had hit the red car. Johnson ran out to the sidewalk where his neighbor, Qnon Lemon, told him that â€
