People v. Studer CA5

Facts - Prosecution Case In July 2012, Roberto Ruiz owned a house and was in the process of selling it and moving out.3 On July 11, when appellant was not at the house, someone had entered the garage attached to the house and stolen a generator and some batteries located in the garage that were part of the solar-powered electrical system of the house. Because of the burglary that had occurred earlier that day, Ruiz was staying overnight at the house on the night of July 11-12, along with his nephew, Joel Gonzalez. Because of the theft of the generator and batteries, the house had no electricity. Gonzalez testified to the following: At some point “in the middle of the night,” he “heard a door smash.” He went to the window and saw, parked in the driveway, a station wagon “that didn’t belong [on] the property.” He went to the room where Ruiz was sleeping and asked his uncle if he was expecting anyone.

All references to dates of events are to dates in 2012. All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. Except as otherwise indicated, our factual summary is taken from Ruiz’s testimony.

2 Ruiz testified that he woke when Gonzalez…