People v. Bonilla CA4/2

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Joseph Angel Bonilla was convicted by a jury of one

count of robbery (Pen. Code,1 § 211), arising out of an incident in which he attempted to

leave a liquor store without paying for a bottle of whiskey and pushed the store’s owner

to the ground when the owner attempted to prevent defendant from leaving. Defendant

appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser

included offense of petty theft. (§§ 486, 487, 488) We find no error in the record before

us and affirm the judgment.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Charges

In an amended information, defendant was charged with one count of robbery

(§ 211), arising out of an incident that occurred in February 2023. The information also

alleged that (1) defendant had suffered a prior conviction qualifying as a serious felony

(§ 667, subd. (a)); (2) defendant had suffered a prior conviction qualifying as a strike

offense (§§ 667, subds. (c), (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1)); and (3) defendant committed

the current offense while on probation, potentially subjecting him to an aggravated term

of imprisonment (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 4.421(b)(4)).

1 Undesignated…