People v. Lohrke CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Larry Lohrke appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after a jury found him guilty of second degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459). The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Lohrke on three years formal probation on the condition he serve 90 days in county jail. Lohrke’s sole contention is that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of an uncharged crime of attempted burglary (Evid. Code,1 § 1101, subd. (b)). We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The August 2012 Incident at Home Depot On August 14, 2012, in the afternoon, Maria Cardena, a cashier supervisor at the Home Depot store in Signal Hill, saw Lohrke approach a self-checkout register with two toilets on a flat cart, even though the registers operated by cashiers were all open. Cardena directed another cashier to assist Lohrke by scanning the toilets at the self- checkout register. Lohrke then asked if he could leave the toilets there while he used the restroom, and the cashier agreed.2 Lohrke returned 15 minutes later, retrieved the cart from behind the register, and left the store with the two toilets. Cardena noticed a second flat cart…