The People v. White CA4/2

FACTS

What happened in this case is undisputed—four men, one of whom was armed

with a chrome handgun, entered a house and initially robbed four people, taking items

from them personally and also taking things found in the house, including a Sony

PlayStation®3. Defendant was arrested three weeks after the robbery, when he tried to

pawn the PlayStation®3. The only issue at trial was whether defendant was one of the

robbers.

The four initial robbery victims were Dennis Estevez and Arian Valdez,4 who

lived together in the house where the robbery occurred, Patricia Alvarado, who is

Estevez’s girlfriend, and Marcus Harden, a friend of Estevez and Valdez. During the

robbery, Tyler Gonzalez and Jose Reyes, who are both friends of Valdez and Estevez,

came to the house. Before they could be warned away, Gonzalez and Reyes were

directed into the house by one of the robbers, later identified as defendant, who was

holding a gun to the back of Estevez’s head as Estevez stood at the open door. Defendant

directed them both to lie down on the floor with the three other victims, all of whom had

been directed to cover their heads and not look at defendant or the other robbers.…