Escobar

Codefendants Eliecer C. Escobar and Ramon Z. Sotolongo were tried together and convicted by a jury of first degree burglary. (Pen. Code, § 459.) In the published portion of this opinion, we discuss Escobar’s claim that the jury was not adequately instructed on the significance of a burglary perpetrator’s multiple entries for purposes of determining aider and abettor liability. In the unpublished portion, we consider other contentions related to the admissibility of certain evidence, Sotolongo’s impeachment with a misdemeanor conviction, the readback of testimony to the jury, and the sentences imposed. We affirm.

I. Facts

a. Prosecution’s Evidence

Dennis McGrath and his wife live in an isolated house on Boonville Road. The house sits on a plateau with a severe drop-off on three sides; the only reasonable access is by way of a 750-foot-long, winding driveway, with a gate at the bottom.

Early in the evening on July 30, 1990, the McGraths went out to dinner. When they returned about two hours later, an unfamiliar Ford Pinto was parked in front of their locked gate, and a strange man was walking down their driveway. The man mumbled about a car problem but declined their…