People v. Cook CA1/5
Filed 12/19/14 P. v. Cook CA1/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A135636 v. JAVANCE MARSHAE COOK, (Contra Costa County Super. Ct. No. 51115054) Defendant and Appellant.
Javance Marshae Cook appeals his conviction for attempted robbery and burglary. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 212.5, subd. (c), 664.)1 He contends his conviction must be reversed because the trial court improperly admitted statements he made to a police detective while in custody. Cook argues these statements were obtained in violation of his right to counsel and should therefore have been suppressed. We conclude the trial court did not err and accordingly affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Although the only issue on appeal is whether the challenged statements were properly admitted, the facts of the underlying offenses are nevertheless relevant to our analysis. We therefore summarize them briefly. The 2009 Robbery of Mechanics Bank On October 6, 2009, a man later identified as Cook approached Emily Almeida, a teller at Mechanics Bank in Concord, and asked to cash a check. Cook showed Almeida
1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.
1
his palm, on which the words “ ‘bank robbery’ ” were written. Almeida was afraid and handed over the money in her drawer. Cook asked for more money, and Almeida gave him several packets of money including a heavier bundle that included a tracking device. He returned the bundle with the tracking device, said he did not want it, and left. Later, Almeida was asked to identify the robbery suspect from photographs of six people. Almeida selected a photo of Cook, although she was not 100 percent certain. Almeida recalled two teardrop tattoos on the suspect’s face that were not in the picture in the photograph. Linda Morris, the branch manager at Mechanics Bank, saw Cook enter the bank and pass her desk. When Morris saw Cook, she immediately thought the bank was going to be robbed. She knew most of their customers but had not seen appellant before, and after being robbed 15 times, she had a “gut reaction” based on his body language that something was unusual. Morris believed Cook was the person who robbed the bank. Robert Monsod was working as a security guard at Mechanics Bank in Concord on October 6, 2009. His duties were limited to opening the door for customers and observing what went on at the bank. When he learned the bank had been robbed, he followed the suspect to a waiting car which was parked across the street at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Concord Boulevard. Monsod identified Cook as the person who robbed the bank. A forensics specialist with the Concord Police Department who collected and preserved evidence at crime scenes and conducted fingerprint comparisons was qualified as an expert in this case. On October 7, 2009, she processed the evidence collected from Mechanics Bank. She processed fingerprints from the straps on the bait money packet the suspect handed back to the teller, and Cook’s fingerprints were positively identified as being on the money strap. Detective David Ishikawa was assigned to investigate the October 6, 2009 robbery at Mechanics Bank. He read the reports and received information from the San Leandro Police Department that directed him to Cook. Ishikawa forwarded surveillance
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