People v. Clark CA3

FACTS

On the night of September 3, 2012, Angelica Martinez was working the cash register at the Dollar Tree store in Chico. She saw a thin woman enter the store, wearing a black tank top, jeans, and a wig, and carrying a large purse. The woman (later identified as defendant), selected an energy drink, then approached the register and handed Martinez two dollars. As Martinez was making change, defendant pulled a gun from her purse. She told Martinez to give her the money. Martinez did not know if the gun was real and asked, “Are you serious?” Defendant replied “Yes. I don’t want to have to hurt you. Now put the money in the bag.” Defendant pulled out a crumpled plastic bag from her purse and Martinez put the money in the bag. Defendant took it and left. Martinez called the police. Martinez had familiarity with guns as her uncle was a gun collector. Defendant’s gun had a squared muzzle at the base, but a rounded barrel like a revolver. To Martinez, it looked like “someone had married those two things together, a revolver and a regular firearm,” which struck her as unusual. The Dollar Tree store had surveillance cameras; one was trained on the cash register and captured the robbery…