People v. Ellis CA1/2

BACKGROUND

The Robbery On March 13, 2019, the Contra Costa County District Attorney filed an information charging Ellis with a single count of second degree robbery (Pen. Code, § 211),1 with a special allegation that he used a deadly weapon, a knife (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). The information also alleged that Ellis had 2010

Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 convictions for attempted carjacking (§§ 215, subd. (a), 664) and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)). (See § 667, subds. (d) & (e); § 667.5, subds. (a) & (b).) Ellis went to trial in May of 2019, at which the victim of the robbery, Hernandez, testified as follows: Hernandez listed an LG Stylo 4 cell phone for sale using the app OfferUp, and on February 4, 2019, an OfferUp user named “Brian Splin” contacted Hernandez and offered to purchase the phone. Hernandez and Splin agreed to meet outside Hernandez’s house in Antioch. Later that day, “Splin,” whom Hernandez later identified as Ellis, arrived in a black Mitsubishi Montero Sport SUV with his girlfriend Destine Jones in the passenger seat and parked on the street in front of Hernandez’s house. Hernandez…