People v. Moreno CA4/3

FACTS

Defendant occupied an apartment in a large apartment complex. His unit was below the one occupied by Elena Leaich. The two encountered each other from time to time. As Leaich was leaving for a weekend, carrying a bag, she noticed defendant, who asked if she would be gone for the weekend. Leaich confirmed she would be. Before Leaich left on her trip, she closed and locked the windows and doors of her apartment. When she returned after midnight a few days later, she found the front door slightly ajar, her kitchen window open with its screen missing. Her apartment had been ransacked. Her television, her stereo, and food from her freezer were missing. Leaich called the police; Officer Jason Betts responded. Betts noticed the front door was damaged, the kitchen window, next to the front door, was ajar, and its screen was missing. He noticed a palm print on the window and concluded this was where the burglar entered the apartment.

2 April Crichton, a forensic specialist, obtained two latent prints from the outside side of the kitchen window and a latent print from the blinds inside that window. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System returned a positive match on one of…