Opinion
B297716
06-30-2020
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JAMES COLLINS, Defendant and Appellant.
Daniel Milchiker, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(a). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115(a). Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA470516 APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, David V. Herriford, Judge. Affirmed. Daniel Milchiker, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
INTRODUCTION
Defendant James Collins was convicted of commercial burglary and grand theft after stealing laptops from two Hollywood businesses. Our independent review of the record has revealed no arguable appellate issues, and we affirm.
PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
By information filed November 21, 2018, defendant was charged with second degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459; counts 1, 3, 5, 7) and grand theft (§ 487, subd. (a); counts 2, 4, 6, 8) from four different businesses. Counts 1 and 2 charged defendant with burglary and theft from Abacus Wealth Partners on May 12, 2018; counts 3 and 4 charged him with burglary and theft from Sunset Bronson Studios on May 24, 2018; counts 5 and 6 charged him with burglary and theft from Live Nation Studios on June 28, 2018; and counts 7 and 8 charged him with burglary and theft from Fox Sports West on July 10, 2018. The information also alleged one strike prior (§ 667, subd. (d); § 1170.12, subd. (b)). Defendant pled not guilty and denied the allegation.
All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.
During trial, the information was amended by interlineation to change counts 2 and 8 to petty theft under section 484, subdivision (a). Defendant pled not guilty to the amended charges.
After a jury trial at which he did not testify, defendant was convicted of counts 3-6, the charges relating to Sunset Bronson Studios and Live Nation Studios. The jury found him not guilty of count 8, petty theft from Fox Sports West and could not reach a verdict on count 2, petty theft from Abacus Wealth Partners. The court declared a mistrial for count 2 and subsequently dismissed it. The court had previously dismissed counts 1 and 7, the related burglaries of those businesses, under section 1118.1.
Defendant waived jury trial on the prior-strike allegation. After a court trial, the court found the prior-conviction allegation true beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court denied defendant's motion to strike his prior conviction under People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497, and sentenced him to an aggregate term of seven years four months in state prison. The court selected count 3 (§ 459) as the base term, and sentenced defendant to six years—the high term of three years, doubled for the prior strike. The court imposed 16 months for count 5—one-third the midterm of two years, doubled for the prior strike—to run consecutively. Counts 4 and 6 were stayed under section 654. Defendant was ordered to pay $9,250 in restitution—$6,050 to Sunset Bronson Studios and $3,200 to Live Nation Studios.
Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal, and we appointed counsel to represent him. On January 6, 2020, appointed counsel filed a brief in which he raised no issues and asked us to review the record independently under People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, 443. Later that day, we notified defendant that his attorney had failed to find any arguable issues and that he could submit by brief or letter any arguments he wished this court to consider. We have not received a response.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
1. Sunset Bronson Studios
Between 6,000 and 8,000 people pass through Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood each day. Closed circuit cameras cover the main entrances and exits and certain interior portions of the lot. On May 24, 2018, two writers returned from lunch to discover their laptops were missing from their offices. They reported the thefts to Eric Richie, a member of the security team.
Although the victims themselves did not testify, defense counsel did not object to this testimony.
Richie examined the studio's surveillance video to see if he could tell who might have gone into the writers' offices in their absence. There is no video coverage of people's offices, and therefore, no video of the theft itself, but Richie saw someone he didn't recognize wandering near the elevators and hallways in the writers' building when they were out to lunch. The jury was shown two stills from this video, which captured the suspect's face. Richie also found footage of the suspect entering and leaving the employee parking garage on foot, which was shown to the jury. The suspect was on the lot for 15 or 20 minutes.
It cost about $6,000 to replace the laptops.
2. Live Nation Studios
Live Nation Studios is also in Hollywood. About 1,000 people work there each day.
On the morning of June 28, 2018, facilities manager Edgar Sandoval received a phone call reporting a missing laptop. Sandoval ultimately found the laptop at a different workstation nearby; when the person who worked at that second workstation arrived, however, he reported that both his personal laptop and his work laptop were missing. Each laptop was worth about $1,500.
Although the victim did not testify, defense counsel did not object to this testimony.
Sandoval asked building security to review security footage to see if they could spot anyone walking around the building. While there was no video of the suspect taking the laptops, security did find footage of a suspect who did not belong, which was shown to the jury.
3. Investigation
On June 12, 2018, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Jared Timmons was assigned to investigate the Sunset Bronson Studios thefts. After retrieving the video footage from Richie, Timmons pulled still images, which he used to create a crime alert for local law enforcement. He did not receive a response.
On June 29, 2018, Timmons learned about the Live Nation Studios burglary. After reviewing Live Nation's video footage, it was clear to Timmons that the culprit was the same person as the Sunset Bronson Studios burglar.
The two suspects were the same basic size, race, and age—but significantly, they were also wearing totally different clothes. That was important because it showed that the burglar was smart enough to change the way he dressed to blend in with different work cultures: Live Nation Studios is a little more casual than Sunset Bronson Studios. Timmons was also struck by the similarity between the two crimes: The suspect walked in, blended in with the corporate culture, and took laptops. Based on these factors, Timmons added stills from the Live Nation Studios video to his crime alert.
When local law enforcement again failed to respond, Timmons issued a press release and called a press conference. He gave the media the still photos and video footage to air.
After the press conference, Timmons received two law enforcement responses: The Santa Monica Police Department told him about a similar burglary from Abacus Wealth Partners in Santa Monica, and the LAPD Central Division told him about a similar burglary from Fox Sports West in downtown Los Angeles. Timmons viewed video footage from those incidents and determined that the same individual was behind all four thefts.
Defendant was not convicted of the charges stemming from either the Abacus Wealth Partners or Fox Sports West thefts. --------
Timmons also received two tips from members of the public, one of which he investigated. The tipster provided a name, an AKA, dates of birth for each, two phone numbers, and an address. Timmons ran the information through a DMV database and found two people matching the information: Chancy Jones and defendant James Collins. Timmons concluded they were the same person.
Timmons assembled a six-pack using the photo of Collins and showed it to a witness from Live Nation Studios—the one person across the four robberies who'd had personal contact with the suspect. She identified defendant "almost immediately" as "being the person that was in Live Nation that day."
On cross-examination, Timmons acknowledged that his conclusions were based solely on the video and the anonymous tip. Neither the clothing worn during any of the burglaries nor the stolen property was recovered when defendant was arrested; no vehicle was found; and no other evidence connected defendant to these crimes.
DISCUSSION
We have examined the entire record, and are satisfied appellate counsel has fully complied with his responsibilities and no arguable issues exist in the appeal before us. (Smith v. Robbins (2000) 528 U.S. 259, 278-284; People v. Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d at p. 443.)
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
LAVIN, Acting P. J. WE CONCUR:
EGERTON, J.
DHANIDINA, J.