People v. Roberts CA2/6

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Jeremiah McNutt was on patrol in Lancaster one afternoon when he saw a Lincoln Towncar parked in front of a vacant house with a "for sale" sign. Roberts was standing on the curb and attempting to load "a large, bulky object" into the front seat of the vehicle. Garcia was sitting in the back seat. Roberts "definitely was having a hard time" with the object, which appeared to be heavy and too large to fit in the vehicle. Deputy McNutt got out of his vehicle and approached Roberts. Roberts saw the deputy and dropped the object on the curb. On closer inspection, Deputy McNutt identified the object as a "smashed" air conditioner (AC) coil. In response to questioning, Roberts said he and Garcia were at home that afternoon when two men walked by and said they should "check out" a piece of trash someone had left on the curb down the street. Roberts did not know what the object was or where it had come from. He decided to take it because he thought it had been abandoned as trash. He was planning to either fix it or give it to someone who could use it. Garcia also said he did not know what the object was and believed it had been left on the…