People v. Morales CA2/1

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

I. Prosecution Evidence

A. Georgia Pearce For approximately two months prior to Craig’s death on August 17, 2013, Georgia Pearce had been sleeping at a homeless encampment on Wilshire Boulevard between Hope Street and Grand Avenue. Anywhere from five to 15 people slept at the encampment on any given night,2 but generally the same core group slept at the location. Members of the encampment were close-knit and considered themselves to be a family. Appellant also slept at this encampment, and Pearce considered him to be like a brother.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted. 2 The City of Los Angeles allowed the homeless to set up camps to sleep between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. 3 Pearce met appellant in New York in 2012, but did not know him well until after they met again in Los Angeles in February 2013.

2 The encampment members felt the location of the camp was safer than other locations because nearby buildings had security cameras, security guards and police patrolled the area, and it was located away from Skid Row and its drug trafficking and associated violence. The group allowed a person to sleep at the…