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People v. Bowman

California Court of Appeals, Second District, Sixth Division
Mar 17, 2008
No. B199532 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 17, 2008)

Opinion


THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MITCHELL JAMES BOWMAN, Defendant and Appellant. B199532 California Court of Appeal, Second District, Sixth Division March 17, 2008

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

Superior Court County of Ventura, Allan L. Steele, Judge, Super. Ct. No. 2005041487

(Retired judge of the Ventura S.Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.)

Lisa M. J. Spillman, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

PERREN, J.

Mitchell James Bowman appeals the judgment entered after a jury convicted him of first degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459), conspiracy to commit first degree burglary (§§182, subd. (a)(1)/459), and two counts of first degree residential robbery (§ 211). The jury also found true allegations that Bowman personally used a firearm in the commission of each offense (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022.53, subd. (b)). The trial court sentenced him to a total state prison term of 18 years 8 months, consisting of the midterm of 4 years on one of the robbery counts and 10 years for the personal firearm use allegation, plus the midterms of 16 months and 40 months on the other robbery count and firearm allegation. Sentencing on the remaining counts was stayed pursuant to section 654.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

At approximately 4:15 p.m. on November 22, 2005, Bowman and his accomplice, Michael Darryl Costa, committed a home invasion robbery at Bob and Marjorie Kerziner's residence in Thousand Oaks. Wearing masks and displaying guns, they approached Marjorie in the kitchen and demanded that she give them the combination to the safe and tell them where it was located. Marjorie told them the safe was in the master bedroom, but that she did not know the combination. The robbers took Marjorie into the bathroom and duct-taped her hands and feet behind her, then told her they would kill her if she did not tell them the combination.

We refer to the Kerziners by their first names for ease of reference and intend no disrespect.

After Bowman and Costa unsuccessfully attempted to open the safe with tools they found in the garage, they brought Marjorie's purse into the bathroom, emptied it, and took one envelope containing $2,000 and another containing $3,400, the latter of which was mostly $50 bills. The robbers asked Marjorie if her husband had a gun, and she told them he kept one in the closet. After the robbers removed several items from the closet, they told Marjorie to call her husband and ask him when he was coming home. The robbers put a gun to her mouth and said they would kill her if she did or said anything to make him suspicious.

When Marjorie called Bob at about 7:15 p.m., he told her he would be home in about 45 minutes. At approximately 8:00 p.m., Bob entered the house and was immediately confronted by the robbers, who told him, "This is a holdup. Give us your money or we're going to kill you." Bob pushed one of the robbers into the other and ran out the door. After Bob returned to the house and discovered that the gun he kept in the closet was not there, he went to the neighbors' house and asked them to call 911.

The police immediately responded and drove to a nearby cul-de-sac after a witness reported seeing a man running with a black bag clutched to his chest. One of the officers shined his flashlight in the direction of two voices he heard coming from an embankment and saw Bowman and Costa standing there. When the officer yelled at the men, they took off running. Bowman was soon apprehended while hiding under a table in a nearby backyard. Bowman had approximately $5,000 in cash, which included a large amount of $50 bills, as well as 2.2 grams of methamphetamine. Costa was found hiding in the bushes, lying on top of a black computer bag. A handgun was found approximately 10 feet away. The Kerziners' son subsequently identified the bag and the computer inside it as belonging to him. The bag also contained a watch and jewelry that had been taken from the Kerziner residence. When Costa was searched, he was found in possession of a ski mask, gloves, two sets of keys, and a wallet. Another ski mask was found up the street. Marjorie subsequently identified both sets of keys as those that had been taken from her house during the robbery.

In their defense, Bowman and Costa testified that they were in the neighborhood smoking methamphetamine when they saw a man place a bag in the bushes and then run away. According to Bowman, he opened the bag and took the large amount of cash he found inside. Both men claimed that they were merely talking at the top of the embankment when they saw a flashlight and heard the officer identify himself. Costa said that he crouched down in the bushes after seeing two people run by, while Bowman ran away and hid because he was scared. They also relied on the fact that the Kerziners told the police they believed the robbery may have been committed by a man who had recently lived with them along with his brother, and that the robbers had called each other by those men's first names.

We appointed counsel to represent Bowman in this appeal. After counsel's examination of the record, she filed an opening brief raising no issues.

On December 19, 2007, we advised Bowman that he had 30 days within which to personally submit any contentions or issues that he wished to raise on appeal. He did not respond.

We have reviewed the entire record and are satisfied that Bowman's attorney has fully complied with her responsibilities and that no arguable issue exists. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, 441; People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, 126.)

The judgment is affirmed.

We concur: YEGAN, Acting P.J., COFFEE, J.


Summaries of

People v. Bowman

California Court of Appeals, Second District, Sixth Division
Mar 17, 2008
No. B199532 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 17, 2008)
Case details for

People v. Bowman

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MITCHELL JAMES BOWMAN, Defendant…

Court:California Court of Appeals, Second District, Sixth Division

Date published: Mar 17, 2008

Citations

No. B199532 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 17, 2008)