People v. Crockett CA2/8

FACTS

At about 10:20 p.m. one New Year’s Eve, Ray Pickens was withdrawing money from an ATM at a gas station when Crockett approached. Crockett brandished a handgun,3 and demanded the keys to Pickens’s Infinity, and the cash. Pickens said his four-year-old daughter was with him, and asked to get her out of the car. After unbuckling his daughter and taking her out of the car, Pickens handed his car keys and the cash to Crockett, who then drove away in Pickens’s car. Pickens called 911 and reported the incident. About two hours later, now early on New Year’s Day, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Matthew Casalicchio attempted to stop Crockett in the course of investigating another incident. Crockett failed to comply with the officer’s directions and went behind a box that housed electrical equipment. As Officer Casalicchio watched, Crockett put what the officer believed to be handgun on the ground. Crockett

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 The jury acquitted Crockett of two additional counts. Those counts are irrelevant to Crockett’s current appeal, so they are not discussed in this opinion. 3 Crockett was later found with a BB handgun.

2 then…