Aguilar

Defendant and appellant Roberto Sanchez Aguilar appeals his jury conviction for one count of first degree burglary. (Pen. Code, § 459.) [1] He argues there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction for burglary in the first degree and seeks a reduction of the conviction to burglary in the second degree. Defendant also contends the trial court erroneously and prejudicially excluded defense evidence relevant to whether the burglary was of the first or second degree.

On October 24, 2008, residents of an apartment building were temporarily relocated to a hotel because of a fire in one of the units. Apartment management allowed these residents to return to their apartments with an escort to pick up personal belongings, clothing, and any valuables they wanted to take with them to the hotel. A few days after the fire, on October 28, 2008, the victim, who lived in one of the apartments damaged by the fire, returned to retrieve some additional personal belongings. The front door of the victim's apartment unit had been boarded up, so a maintenance employee removed the boarding so the victim could access the apartment. When the victim entered his apartment, he…