People v. Chiles CA3

I. BACKGROUND

A. Robbery of Cody Cody was riding home from an event on a friend’s bicycle around midnight on December 13, 2014. He stopped in front of the Antelope Vista apartment complex in Antelope to smoke a cigarette. As he smoked, he noticed three young African American men approaching. Two of the men looked similar, as though they may have been brothers. The third man wore a mask of the type worn by motorcyclists. The mask had a skull pattern and covered most of the man’s face.

As we shall discuss, a “fixie” is a fixed gear bicycle.

2 The masked man stood in front of Cody and demanded to know his name. Cody responded. The masked man then reached for the waistband of his pants, and Cody, sensing trouble, handed over his backpack, phone, and wallet.2 The men emptied the contents of the backpack and wallet onto the ground and walked away, taking the bicycle with them. Cody gathered his belongings from the ground. He looked up and saw the three men standing nearby. The masked man was pointing a gun at him. Cody ducked. He heard a gunshot and saw that he had been shot in the leg. His uncle, who lived in the apartment complex, heard Cody yelling and called 911.…