People v. Gordon CA6

FACTS

The events leading to defendant’s prosecution unfolded more than five years before his trial. About 9:00 p.m. on January 19, 2007, he carjacked the automobile of Xing Yu, a Cantonese-speaking man with limited knowledge of English, off a street in San Francisco and made Yu drive around with him until he finally pushed him out of the car in San Mateo County. Sitting in the passenger seat, defendant threatened to club Yu with a slugging weapon, a sturdy 16-inch-long, three-quarters-inch thick metal rod he was holding, and he told Yu not to look at him further. He also threatened to kill Yu. Defendant did not steal any property in Yu’s possession other than the car Yu was driving, but Yu’s cell phone, which had been sitting on a seat inside the car, remained with the car as defendant drove it away. Three hours later, defendant had driven Yu’s car to an address in Mountain View, in Santa Clara County. Shortly after midnight on January 20, homeowners heard him prowling in their back yard. They called the police, who arrested him and obtained various items of evidence.

2 From Yu’s account of events and the evidence gathered in Mountain View, the prosecution was able to introduce…