People v. Garcia

224 Cal.App.4th 1310 (2014)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Victim M. as working at a store. D was spotted riding his bicycle slowly in front of and looking into, the store. After a fellow employee of M., left for the day, D entered the store, looked around, and then smiled at M. and left. D reentered the store, went to the counter near where M. was standing and started asking M. what she described were “weird” questions about the store's voucher program. The man held a cell phone in one hand, and his other hand was inside his jacket pocket. M. became concerned by the man's behavior. M. used her cell phone to message the employee who had earlier left the store, that there was a man inside the store asking “weird” questions and that she was scared. The employee called back on the store phone, but M. could not speak candidly because the man was standing nearby. M. thus hung up the phone. M. was asked about a jar of candies located on the counter. As M. was opening the jar to give the man some candy, D pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket, pointed it at M. and ordered her to hand over the money from the cash register. M. complied and told the man not to hurt her. M. put the money in a bag. While still pointing the gun at M., the man asked M. if she had any money. M. next pulled a few dollars from her pants pocket and also put it into the bag. D directed M. to close the front door of the store. D asked M. if the store had a bathroom. M. said yes, but she refused to go down the hallway into the bathroom, which was located behind the office in the very back of the store, out of sight from the main part of the store. M. next got on her knees and begged the man not to harm her, telling him she had a daughter waiting for her at home. D told M. to remove her clothes. D gestured with the gun for her to go into the bathroom. M. went into the bathroom and removed her pants and blouse. D tried to restrain M. and eventually raped her. Eventually, D left the store, and M. called the police. D was convicted in part of burglary for forcing M. into the bathroom to rape her. D appealed. D contends that entry into the store itself “subsumed entry into the bathroom located in the back of the store” and as such, it was not a separate burglary.