P.v . Donahue CA3

BACKGROUND

Case No. 11-1247 On September 8, 2010, defendant hitched a ride to Yreka and stole items from the driver’s purse, including $70 in cash and a debit card. The driver identified defendant from a photo lineup. When interviewed, defendant admitted that she had taken the items and, in addition, had used the debit card to withdraw $200 from the driver’s bank account. The People filed various charges against defendant, including felony petty theft with a prior burglary conviction (former Pen. Code, § 666;1 count 1) to which she ultimately pled guilty, as we describe post. Case No. 12-519 In the very early morning of December 30, 2011, Pacific Power employee James Harkless responded to a power outage in Happy Camp. While Harkless was in the extended boom/bucket portion of his truck, making repairs to the power line, defendant entered his company truck and drove it from the scene with Harkless trapped in the bucket. Harkless was able to shut down the truck using a kill switch, but defendant started the truck up again and continued to drive. This continued multiple times while Harkless screamed and pleaded for his life. Defendant then intentionally rammed the boom into a power…