People v. Acosta CA3

I. BACKGROUND

At trial, City of Stockton Police Lieutenant Michael Reynosa testified that on the evening of September 5, 2012, a report came in of shots being fired in the area he was already working. Two callers described a white SUV with tinted rear windows. Lieutenant Reynosa found a shell casing in the road two or three blocks from the reported location of the shooting. A few blocks later, he saw a white car with tinted rear windows pull into a driveway. Defendant and his passenger got out of the car and walked into a nearby house. As Lieutenant Reynosa walked up to the house, the passenger came out and said he lived a couple of houses away. The lieutenant knocked on the door and a woman answered. He asked her to have the driver come out and talk with him. Defendant did so. Defendant was sweating and looking around. He appeared to be nervous, and Lieutenant Reynosa thought defendant was going to run. At this point, the lieutenant did not see any other officers there to back him up yet. Defendant looked at his passenger, who was watching the exchange from about 15 feet away. Lieutenant Reynosa testified that he asked defendant if he had a driver’s license, and defendant said…