People v. Hoffman-Neff CA3

BACKGROUND

On November 1, 2013, defendant and two others robbed two women at a local inn. The three men forced their way into the motel room at gunpoint. Defendant and one cohort stood by the victims while the other man searched the room. Defendant cut the cord for one of the room’s telephones. The robbers took the women’s cellular telephones, credit cards, and identification and left the inn. One of the women used another telephone to contact the front desk. Responding police officers saw three males walking on a highway overpass and later running down an embankment. After detaining the men, the officers found an unregistered handgun on one of the men. Both victims positively identified defendant and the other men as the robbers. Defendant admitted to demanding money from the victims at the motel, claiming they were prostitutes who owed money to an unknown man who had offered to pay defendant to get his money back. Defendant pleaded no contest to second degree robbery. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 212.5, subd. (c).)1 An allegation that he was armed with a firearm (§ 12022, subd. (a)(1)) was dismissed with a Harvey waiver.2 The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and granted…