People v. Ackerman CA4/3

INTRODUCTION

After being stopped for shoplifting, defendant Gerald Frederick Ackerman drove his car toward the store’s personnel. He was convicted of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Defendant challenges his convictions because the trial court excluded evidence that several years earlier, the same asset protection employee who stopped defendant had extorted money from another shoplifter. Any error in excluding that evidence was harmless because there was no reasonable probability that defendant would have obtained a more favorable verdict if the evidence had been admitted. Therefore, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 14, 2019, defendant showed a receipt for various items in his shopping cart as he exited a Home Depot store in Salinas, California. However, defendant had not paid for the items. Rather, he had received the receipt from another person who had purchased the same items. “Double dipping” is a common way for people to shoplift. Raul Correa, who worked in asset protection at the Home Depot in Salinas, identified surveillance camera footage from the store showing defendant stealing the items. Correa saw defendant at the same Home…