People v. Hill CA4/1

Filed 8/29/24 P. v. Hill CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D082266

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. RIF2000020)

ROBERT HILL,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Dale R. Wells, Judge. Affirmed. Robert L. Hernandez, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Collette C. Cavalier and James H. Flaherty III, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION Jane Doe worked the “[g]raveyard shift” from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. as a desk clerk at a Comfort Inn motel in Riverside County. She worked alone in the motel lobby. The lobby was closed to the public and the doors were locked from the beginning of her shift until 6:00 a.m. Guests who checked in during those hours did so through a “night window” between the interior and exterior of the motel. Doe assisted guests who checked in through the window. She also acted as the “night auditor.” In the early morning of December 30, 2019, shortly before 3:00 a.m., Doe began counting the cash receipts for the day. She was seated at a counter in the lobby using a table that could be seen by outsiders through the motel’s windows. The money she was counting was displayed on the table. Robert Hill walked by in front of the windows and said something to Doe. He could see the money on the table. Hill was angry at Doe. She had called security earlier that evening because she saw him walking around the motel’s property. Security sprayed Hill with mace or pepper-spray to get him to leave. Hill was also high on methamphetamine and feeling like a “boss.” Doe told Hill to go away. A few minutes later, she heard what sounded like Hill trying to break down the door to a back office used by the manager during the day. Doe called security again and continued counting the money. Hill returned to the front of the building where the lobby was located. Suddenly, he threw a big rock through one of the lobby windows. Doe started screaming as Hill climbed through the broken window into the lobby. She ran down a hallway behind the check-in counter toward the back office. Hill jumped over the counter and chased after her. Doe closed the door to the back office and tried to lock it, but “the door came opened because the lock was broken.” Hill charged in through the unlocked door and attacked her.