Hill
People v. Hill
Opinion
Opinion
Wunderlich, J.
I. Statement of the Case
Thomas Alexander Hill and Angela Yvet Tinsley (Tinsley) were jointly charged with five counts of forging checks. (Pen. Code, § 470. Defendant Hill (defendant) was separately charged with one misdemeanor count of concealing or destroying evidence. (§ 135.) It was also alleged that he had a prior serious felony conviction for robbery, which constituted a “strike" within the meaning of the three strikes law. (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i).)
Defendant appeals from the judgment entered after a jury convicted him of all counts, and the trial court found true the strike allegation. The court sentenced defendant under the three-strikes law to 10 years and 4 months in prison, with a concurrent 90-day jail term for the misdemeanor conviction.
On appeal, defendant claims the prosecutor violated his right to a fair trial by relying on and failing to correct demonstrably false testimony. He claims the trial court erred in instructing the jury not to consider why codefendant Tinsley dropped out of the case or whether she will be or has been prosecuted. He claims the trial court gave erroneous instructions on aiding and abetting and inadequate instructions on…