People v. Keith CA4/1
Opinion
Opinion
BACKGROUND
A. Count
Around 6:30 a.m. in mid-February 2013, University of California, San Diego
(UCSD) student Cindy Vu was in the bathroom in her dormitory when she heard the
2 sound of the front door being opened. When Vu came out of the bathroom, she saw a
man, who she later identified in court as defendant, walking toward the front door; he
was approximately two feet away from her at the time. The man, a tall African American
male with long, grey dreadlocks, was wearing a distinctive jacket and carrying a smart
phone. Vu identified the phone as belonging to her roommate, Elizabeth Johnson, based
on its unique blue case. The charging cord was still attached to the phone. Startled, Vu
"froze." The man in response said, "'Good morning'" and walked out the front door of the
dormitory.
Vu awakened Johnson, who was sleeping on the couch in the common area inside
the dormitory. Johnson had been studying in the common area the night before when she
fell asleep. Before falling asleep, Johnson recalled plugging her phone into the wall
socket to charge. Vu told Johnson someone had just stolen her phone. They called
campus police.