The People v. Rayford CA2/3

INTRODUCTION

A jury found defendant and appellant Reginald Lamar Rayford guilty of second degree robbery and of attempted second degree robbery. On appeal, he contends that the trial court failed, sua sponte, to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of attempted grand theft to attempted second degree robbery. He also contends that the trial court failed to hold a hearing on his “implied” Marsden1 motion. We disagree with both contentions and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Factual background.

On the evening of Friday, December 16, 2011, Ofelia Bravo and Maritza Reyes were working at Bates Fish Market, located on El Segundo Boulevard in Gardena. Also working at that time were Song Ye Eun (the store‟s owner, also known as “Mama”), Craig Benbo, and Brandon Scott. Jameel Wallace was the market‟s cashier, but he left earlier that day at 8:30 p.m. Most sales occurred on Fridays, when the store took in $1,500 to $1,600. Because the market had been robbed in the past, Mama changed the way in which money was put away. Instead of storing all money in the cash register, money was kept in a bag or envelope behind a box underneath the register where…