Falconer

A jury convicted appellant Patrick George Falconer of robbery enhanced by use of a firearm and of discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 246, 12022.5.) He was sentenced to eight years in prison. On appeal, we find that the accomplice testimony linking Falconer to the crime was not sufficiently corroborated to support his conviction. Because the trial court erroneously denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, Falconer is entitled to a judgment of acquittal.

I. Facts

On September 30, 1984, four or five intruders attempted to steal marijuana plants from the Redwood Valley property of Frank Buschbaker. The intruders were armed and shots landed inside the Buschbaker residence. Their faces were covered with stockings, masks, and bandanas; Buschbaker could not identify any of them. One of the intruders, Patrick Falconer, Jr., was wounded and later arrested at a Ukiah hospital. Another of them, Matthew Mitchell, told police about the incident. He explained that the wounded man’s father, appellant Patrick George Falconer, had planned the raid. He also thought that the senior Falconer was one of the men who participated in it. Mitchell was…