People v. Wilson CA1/1

Filed 3/3/25 P. v. Wilson CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A166666 v. DENISE MAE WILSON, (Contra Costa County Super. Ct. No. 04001999432) Defendant and Appellant.

A jury convicted Denise Mae Wilson of arson. The trial court placed Wilson on formal probation for two years. Wilson maintains there was insufficient evidence to support her arson conviction. She further contends the court erred in instructing the jury on aiding and abetting without evidence to support those instructions. Lastly, she agrees with the People that a remand for resentencing is warranted. We agree a remand is appropriate to permit the trial court to clarify its sentence. In all other respects, we affirm the judgment. I. BACKGROUND A. The Arson In April 2020, Wilson’s boyfriend, Idrees Hollis, was staying with his ex-girlfriend, Tanisha Gilmore, after he and Wilson had a falling out.

Around 1:40 a.m. on April 15, 2020, Gilmore heard banging at her front door and someone yelling for Hollis to open the door. She recognized the voice as Wilson’s voice. She looked out her window and saw Wilson with another woman, whom she did not recognize. Afraid that the two women would break her windows, Gilmore called the police. She then heard someone say, “ ‘Oh, so you’re not going to open the door,’ ” and it was “quiet for a minute.” After a while, Gilmore saw lights outside, and she thought it was the police. She instead found her van on fire. She did not see Wilson outside at that point. Gilmore’s neighbor was woken up by the banging on Gilmore’s door. She saw two women “peeking” in a van parked in front of Gilmore’s house. The neighbor heard the women shout, “ ‘Come out the house, B. We know you in there so you might as well come out. You must be scared because you ain’t came out by now, so come on out.’ ” The neighbor could not see the women’s faces because it was dark. Eventually, the two women left, but the neighbor heard them return a little later. She saw them peer into Gilmore’s windows before walking to Gilmore’s van. They opened the van’s front passenger door, “took some clothes out or something,” and “roam[ed] through [the van].” And “all of a sudden,” the neighbor saw “some flickering, and then . . . like a flash of light,” and flames “quickly went up.” The women then “rac[ed] down the street” and left in a car. Later that day or the following day, Wilson left a voicemail for Gilmore saying, “You aint finna do a mother fucking thing bitch but get knocked out. Bitch you wanted these problems, bitch. You already knew . . . it was going to be a problem with me bitch when you came and picked up my nigga.”