People v. Haro CA4/2

I. INTRODUCTION

A jury found defendant and appellant Carlos Haro guilty of second degree robbery

(Pen. Code, § 211; count 1),1 making criminal threats (§ 422; count 2), second degree

burglary (§ 459; count 3), and assault with a deadly weapon, a knife (§ 245, subd. (a)(1);

count 4). The jury also found defendant personally used a knife in committing each

crime. (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1).) Defendant admitted two prior serious felony convictions

and two prior strike convictions (§ 667, subds. (a), (c), (e)(2)(A)) and was sentenced to

11 years plus 25 years to life in prison.

On this appeal, defendant claims the trial court prejudicially erred in refusing to

instruct the jury on the defense of accident to the charge of assault with a deadly weapon

in count 4. At trial, the evidence showed that on April 26, 2013, defendant went into the

Moreno Market in Hemet, robbed the store, and assaulted and threatened to kill the store

clerk, Beatriz Gomez, with a knife. The evidence indicated that defendant accidentally

cut Gomez’s arm with the knife during the robbery and assault. Defendant argues this

evidence supported an instruction on accident, essentially telling the jury he was…