Najera

Defendant was spotted driving a stolen car less than a day after the owner had reported it missing. Defendant was using a shaved key—a key whose teeth have been shaved down to bypass the pins in the ignition cylinder—and the ignition system was, in the words of the arresting officer, “very loose.” Personal property belonging to the car’s owner was found in possession of the passenger, defendant’s sister. Defendant was convicted of the unlawful taking of a vehicle and possession of burglary tools. On appeal, he asserted that the trial court had erred in failing to instruct the jury on its own motion that possession of recently stolen property was insufficient by itself to establish guilt of the charged offenses. (See CALJIC No. 2.15.) We agree with the Court of Appeal that the trial court had no sua sponte duty to provide such an instruction and therefore affirm.

Background

Around 8:00 p.m. on July 21, 2004, Joseph Donato parked his white 1991 Acura Integra in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Escondido. When he returned to the lot around 6:00 a.m. the next morning, the car was gone. Donato promptly filed a report of the stolen car with the police.

Escondido…