People v. Williams CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

The evidence at the preliminary hearing showed that defendant lived with his grandmother in a home next door to the victim’s residence. In November 2012, the victim received an automatic e-mail from his home video surveillance system showing photos of a person on the side of his house and in his living room, and a picture of a shoe. He called the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Sheriff Joseph England was dispatched to the victim’s home to investigate. England found a shattered window and an alarm keyboard box that had been pulled from the wall. England concluded the home had been burglarized. He conducted an “area canvass” to investigate whether neighbors in the area had information about the

1 burglary. He went to the house next door and spoke with defendant, who said he had been home but had not heard or seen anything. As they spoke, Reginald Ward parked in the street and walked up the driveway of the house. He told England he had been gone at work all day and had no information. It appeared to England that Ward had just gotten home. When the victim returned home later that day, he found that a television, three outdoor cameras, and a blanket…