People v. Cook CA2/6

Filed 9/4/25 P. v. Cook CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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(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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B331904 (Super. Ct. No. 2021030746) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Ventura County)

v.

KEITH ERIC COOK,

Defendant and Appellant.

Keith Eric Cook appeals from the judgment after a jury convicted him of second degree robbery with a true finding of personal firearm use (Pen. Code,1 §§ 211, 12022.53, subd. (b); count 1); false imprisonment with violence (§ 236; count 2); and unlawful possession of a firearm (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 3). Cook admitted that he was on bail when he committed the offenses (§ 12022.1, subd. (b)) and admitted two prior serious felony convictions and strikes under the “Three Strikes” law

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

(§§ 667, subds. (a)(1), (c)(1), (e)(1), 1170.12, subds. (a)(1), (c)(1)). The trial court sentenced Cook to 42 years to life in state prison. Cook contends there was insufficient evidence that he aided and abetted false imprisonment. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Cook and Jason Hoyland entered the Wild Tobacco and Gift Shop in Ventura. They were both masked, dressed in black, and armed. They approached the store owner, M.T. Hoyland had a “bag” on him. As Hoyland approached the register, Cook pointed a “short gun” at M.T. and said, “Don’t fuck with us.” Hoyland, holding a rifle, pushed M.T. into a chair and zip tied his hands. Cook pointed his firearm at M.T. while Hoyland put zip ties on him. Hoyland then emptied the cash register and moved throughout the store, taking items from the shelves and putting them inside a duffle bag. L.C., a patron, entered the store at approximately 11 p.m. When he walked inside the store, L.C. stood in the pathway of the “only one way in and out.” L.C. had his head down when someone told him, “Hey, buddy, why don’t you have a seat over there.” L.C. looked up and saw a “gun.” It looked like an “assault rifle.” He said the man “had a mask” and was “kind of like pointing, gesturing me to go sit down over there.” L.C. “instantly knew [the store] was getting robbed.” L.C. sat down behind the display counter. He could see M.T. “zip-tied” next to him. L.C. was “almost positive there were two people” in the store. The second person said, “We need to go.” While he “didn’t see a second person,” he could “tell that there was more than one person moving around.” He explained there was “more than one person moving around” “[b]ecause from the movements there would be like one person here and then I think another person