People v. Hickman CA1/2

I. INTRODUCTION

Maurice Hickman was convicted of burglary, rape and several other offenses arising out of a home invasion assault. On appeal, Hickman contends the trial court committed evidentiary and constitutional errors by admitting the preliminary hearing testimony of Lynn E., the assault victim who refused to testify at Hickman’s trial. Hickman also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support several of the convictions and alleges there was a prejudicial jury instruction error with respect to the burglary conviction. We reject all of these contentions and affirm the judgment.

II. STATEMENT OF FACTS

A. The Events of March 24, 2010 1. The Crime Report In March 2010, Lynn E. was 57 years old, although she looked much older than her age. Lynn suffers from a severe abnormality of the spine; when she walks her spine is so curved that she is essentially looking down at the floor. She does not walk quickly

1 or easily and she looks debilitated. Despite this condition and other health problems, Lynn was living alone in a second floor apartment on Dore Street in San Francisco. On March 24, 2010, at 1:07 p.m., Lynn called 911 and reported that she had just…