People v. Higerada CA2/8

Filed 7/11/14 P. v. Higerada CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B248100

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KA097433) v.

JORGE LUIS HIGERADA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. George Genesta, Judge. Affirmed.

Tanya Dellaca, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Shawn McGahey Webb and Taylor Nguyen, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

__________________________

Jorge Luis Higerada appeals from the judgment entered after he was convicted of grand theft, contending that the trial court erred by allowing his parole officer to testify at trial that Higerada appeared in a video recording of the incident. Although we conclude that the trial court erred, we hold that the error was harmless and therefore affirm the judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

At around 1:00 p.m. on March 19, 2012, Jorge Luis Higerada entered the South El Monte branch of Bank of the West, approached teller Marco Zubia, and mumbled something indecipherable. When Zubia asked, “Excuse me?” Higerada lifted his shirt, put his hand near the waistband, and said, “Give me all the money. Give me the money.” Higerada’s voice was “low . . . and serious.” Although Zubia did not see a weapon, he was afraid that Higerada was armed and handed over all the money in his drawer, including a stack of $20 bills that concealed an explosive dye pack. Higerada inspected that stack and handed it back to Zubia, stating, “I don’t want the dye pack.” Higerada took the loose bills, amounting to more than $2,000, and fled. Elvira Rodriguez, the bank’s assistant manager, witnessed this exchange and alerted manager Raquel Alvarado, who tripped the bank’s alarm. Higerada was on parole at the time and his parole officer – Arnold Valdez – contacted the F.B.I. to identify Higerada after coming across a photo of the incident that the F.B.I. had circulated. Based on Valdez’s information, an F.B.I. agent showed Zubia, Rodriguez, and Alvarado a six-pack photo lineup that included Higerada’s photo. All three identified Higerada as the perpetrator. Higerada was charged with robbery, along with allegations that he had numerous prior convictions under the Three Strikes law and for sentence enhancement purposes. In addition to the three bank employees, Valdez testified about having identified Higerada, but was identified as a law enforcement officer who supervised him. The jury also saw the bank’s surveillance video recording, and Higerada admitted that he was the person depicted in that video.