People v. Wilson CA1/4

I. FACTS

On April 16, 2009, Candace Lui and Tri Chung (collectively, the Chungs), held an open house to rent their five-bedroom house in Brentwood. Defendant attended the open house and submitted her credit report in order to apply for the rental. The Chungs denied defendant’s application because her credit score was too low. On May 30, 2009, the Chungs returned to the house to show it to a prospective tenant and discovered that defendant had moved into their house and changed the locks. Lui rang the door bell and

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all further statutory references are to the Penal Code. 1 was greeted by defendant who said, “This is a shocker; isn’t it? . . . I shouldn’t have been turned down for this rental. I deserved it.” Chung called the police to report the incident. Defendant was calm and polite with the police and showed them a five-page rental agreement, receipts for the first and last month’s rent, a deposit, and a partial rent payment. Unsure about who was telling the truth, the police did not ask defendant to vacate the property. The Chungs subsequently hired an attorney to evict defendant. The police investigated a possible trespass and forgery and…