Denize

I. Background

In December 1994, defendant went to a Sunnyvale Home Depot, placed several “very expensive” items in his cart, removed the “sensormatic” theft-detection tags from the items, and pushed his cart past a closed register without making any attempt to stop and pay for the items in the cart. His conduct was observed by Home Depot employees. As he headed for an exit, a Home Depot cashier approached him and asked to see his receipt. Defendant became “mad and upset” and “started talking real loud.” A Home Depot assistant manager intervened and told defendant that he could not leave with the merchandise without a receipt. Defendant “took off,” abandoned the cart along with the merchandise near the exit, and ran into the parking lot.

2 At defendant’s request, we have taken judicial notice of the appellate record in his appeal from the judgment.

2 The assistant manager pursued defendant and told defendant that he was “under arrest for shoplifting.” Defendant opened his car door and got into the driver’s seat. Defendant tried to punch the assistant manager in the face, but the assistant manager deflected the blows. With the assistant manager standing between the open car door…