People v. DeFrance CA3

BACKGROUND

To facilitate our review, we summarize the relevant background facts from this court’s opinion in defendant’s previous appeal from the underlying conviction, People v. DeFrance (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 486 (DeFrance). Brophy lived in a condominium with her two adult children. (DeFrance, supra, 167 Cal.App.4th at p. 490.) Her children kept their cars parked in two parking spaces nearby. (Ibid.) On the morning of July 10, 2005, Brophy’s neighbors heard a woman yelling, “get out of that car,” and then screeching tires. (Ibid.) The police found Brophy on her back in the parking lot, with fluid coming out of her ear and a tire mark across her torso. (Ibid.) That morning a man, J.B., saw a car speed down the road and make an illegal U-turn. (Id. at pp. 490-491) J.B. contacted the police, and eventually identified defendant as the driver from a photo lineup. (Id. at p. 491.) The stolen car was recovered, and a crime scene investigator found defendant’s palm print on the driver window. (Ibid.) T.E., a convicted felon, testified that someone named Curtis came to an apartment where he had been staying and told him that he had been trying to steal a woman’s car and that he ran her…