People v. Lee CA4/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2012, Lee committed an armed robbery of a jewelry store. Lee and an accomplice entered the store while the 72-year-old victim was working. They pretended to be customers and asked the victim where the store’s diamonds were located. One of the perpetrators then grabbed the victim, pointed a gun at her, and said, “‘This is a robbery. Don’t scream.’” The other man bear hugged the victim from behind, dragged her to the rear of the store, and told her to lie down. Lee and the accomplice then used duct tape to cover the victim’s eyes and mouth and to bind her wrists and ankles. After she had been bound, the victim “heard one of the suspects say, ‘Take her purse so we know where she lives.’” The perpetrators then stole about $500,000 in jewelry. After they left, the victim was able to remove some of the tape, activate the store’s silent alarm, and call 911. Lee and the accomplice were later arrested for the robbery.

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 The prosecution filed an information charging Lee with one count of second degree robbery under sections 211 and 212.5, subdivision (c). The information alleged Lee had…