People v. Sutton CA2/3

Filed 1/15/16 P. v. Sutton CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, B263319

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA431780) v.

MICHAEL SUTTON,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Frederick N. Wapner, Judge. Affirmed. Alex Green, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________

A jury convicted defendant and appellant Michael Sutton of one count of petty theft. (Pen. Code, § 484, subd. (a)).1 We affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Factual background. On the morning of October 30, 2014, Margaret Govea was waiting for the bus with her bike at Wilshire and Vermont. When the bus arrived, Govea put her bike on the rack so that her bike was the outermost one. Although a rod secured the bike to the bus, it was not “locked.” Govea got on the bus. Just after Govea got on the bus, an African American man wearing all black carrying a white plastic “back” [sic] got on the bus. Five stops later, near Wilshire and Fairfax, Govea noticed that her bike was gone. Govea did not give anyone permission to take her bike. Govea paid approximately $1200 for the bicycle and its gear. Video surveillance showed someone wearing black and carrying a white bag taking Govea’s bike. Using a video still, Detective David McAllister distributed a wanted flier for Sutton. On November 21, 2014, Deputy Sheriff Joseph Salehpour, who had the flier, saw Sutton playing chess. Before showing Sutton the flier, the deputy read Sutton’s Miranda2 rights to him. Sutton said he understood his rights, and he agreed to speak to the deputy. Sutton denied knowing anything about “grand thefts that were going on.” But when asked if he was the man pictured on the flier, “he goes, yeah, that’s me. He goes, picture’s worth a thousand words, . . .” II. Procedural background. A complaint was filed on November 25, 2014 charging Sutton with grand theft (§ 487, subd. (a)). A preliminary hearing was held on December 29, 2014. An information, filed on January 12, 2015, alleged one count of grand theft of personal