People v. Simmons CA5

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Prosecution’s Case In January 2018, Jarrett St. John rented a 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck from U- Haul for his friend, Lexi Alundra. A few days later, St. John attempted to contact Alundra about the U-Haul pickup truck, but his phone calls and messages were not returned. The vehicle was worth approximately $32,000. U-Haul contacted St. John when the pickup truck was not returned and, on January 31, 2018, the truck was reported stolen. On March 14, 2018, Alonso Valdovinos responded to an advertisement for a power steering component which was posted on the website OfferUp. Valdovinos contacted the seller, “ ‘Dizzy Star,’ ” to inquire about a truck frame that was visible in the advertisement. The seller, who introduced himself as “ ‘Mike,’ ” assured Valdovinos that he could provide a bill of sale for the truck frame. Valdovinos agreed to purchase the frame for $1,200. Valdovinos subsequently identified Simmons as the seller. When Valdovinos met with Simmons to purchase the truck frame, Simmons identified himself as Chris. The address Simmons had given Valdovinos to meet at was an address for a liquor store. As Valdovinos waited at the liquor store with his truck…