People v. Alcaraz CA4/1

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant John Alcaraz appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after a jury convicted him of four counts of robbery, four counts of conspiracy, one count of burglary, one count of grand theft, and one count of using personal identifying information of another. Alcaraz raises five claims on appeal. First, Alcaraz argues that because a police officer unlawfully searched his cell phone after conducting a traffic stop of a vehicle in which Alcaraz was a passenger, the trial court should have traversed two search warrants that were obtained after the unlawful search and excluded all evidence obtained pursuant to those search warrants. Alcaraz contends that the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrants included some information that was obtained as a result of the prior unlawful cell phone search. Second, Alcaraz contends that the trial court erred in permitting the “repeated admission” of the word “blood” at trial. According to Alcaraz, the references to the word “blood” constituted prejudicial gang evidence. Third, Alcaraz challenges the trial court’s admission of a brief cell phone video in which a hand can be seen holding a firearm and pulling the…