People v. Scott CA1/1

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

Cole, who was charged in a separate case, was the prosecution’s key witness at trial.4 He testified that he ran into defendants, who are cousins, a few days after he was released from jail in August 2008. The three men agreed on a plan to rob banks and decided the first step was to steal a getaway car. On August 7, 2008, Cole stole a Toyota Highlander from V.B. after she pulled into a gas station in Richmond. Cole testified that as defendants waited in a nearby car, he showed V.B. a handgun Scott had given him, took her keys, and drove the Highlander away. V.B. generally corroborated Cole’s account of the carjacking, although she was unable to identify Cole and was not aware anyone else was involved in the crime. After the three men reunited, they cased Pinole and Antioch banks in the Highlander. Scott then suggested they rob a check-cashing store in San Pablo. They waited until the store closed and the last employee, A.S., drove away in her Honda. The three pursued A.S. and eventually trapped her Honda in a cul-de-sac. According to Cole, he approached the Honda, threatened A.S. with the handgun, and forced her to sit in the back of the…