People v. Finan CA2/5

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

In June 2023, Carolyn H., her husband, and their three children lived in a gated house in Los Angeles.1 In the early morning hours of June 6, 2023, defendant scaled the wall surrounding the house and entered the house from the backyard through a sliding glass door. When Carolyn spied defendant pick up and examine her husband’s laptop while standing in their living room, she quietly alerted her husband, and they gathered up the children and silently retreated to a bedroom in the back of the house, called

California Rules of Court, rule 8.90(b) instructs appellate courts to “consider referring to” certain individuals “by first name and last initial” to protect their privacy. Accordingly, we refer to the victim in this case by her first name and last initial, and thereafter by first name only. No disrespect is intended.

2 911, and waited. No one gave defendant consent to be in their home or to take the laptop. When the police arrived a few minutes later, they found defendant casually leaning against a pick-up truck out in front of the home, vaping. The front gate was open slightly. Defendant had taken the laptop out of the house,…