People v. Trimble CA2/8

BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged by information with one count of robbery arising from an incident that occurred at a Target store in Redondo Beach on December 3, 2018. (Pen. Code, § 211.) At the arraignment, defendant pled not guilty and substituted privately retained counsel in place of her appointed counsel. Defendant thereafter waived her right to a jury trial. In April 2021, the court granted defendant’s motion to continue trial to June 2021. At the June 8, 2021, bench trial, two Target employees, Christopher Romero and LaMeshia Williams, testified about the shoplifting incident they witnessed and both identified defendant in court as the woman who had committed the theft. Both Mr. Romero and Ms. Williams worked security and loss prevention for the store. Mr. Romero testified he first noticed defendant while he was monitoring the security cameras. Defendant selected a large amount of different clothing items and then walked to an area of the store without security camera coverage. Mr. Romero told his coworker, Ms. Williams, to stay on the cameras so he could go out onto the floor. Mr. Romero saw defendant pull a bag from her purse, place the clothes in the bag and head…