In re L.M. CA2/7

Filed 5/16/16 In re L.M. CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

In re L.M., a Person Coming Under the B265159 Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TJ22014)

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

L.M.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Donna Quigley Groman, Judge. Affirmed. Holly Jackson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald D. A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Shawn McGahey Webb and Nathan Guttman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ________________

Sixteen-year-old L.M. was declared a ward of the juvenile court and placed home on probation after the court sustained a petition filed pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 alleging L.M. had committed a robbery and used a deadly or dangerous weapon during commission of the offense. On appeal L.M. contends the victim’s in- court identification of him was impermissibly tainted by an unduly suggestive in-field show up on the day of the crime. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1. The Evidence at Trial In the early afternoon of May 21, 2015 L.M. and three or four other young men entered a liquor store in Long Beach. Erin Powell, the store’s cashier/clerk, was uneasy because they were all wearing hooded sweatshirts on a warm day, continued to walk in and out of the store, and did not make eye contact with her. One of the individuals bought a lottery ticket; a second purchased a soda. L.M. and one of the other youths then approached Powell and asked her about Scratchers lottery tickets displayed on the counter. While about a foot away from Powell, L.M. pepper sprayed her in the face and eyes. His confederate grabbed the Scratchers display, and both individuals ran out of the store. Powell immediately called the police emergency number and reported the crime. A short while later paramedics arrived and flushed her eyes. That same afternoon L.M. attempted to redeem the lottery tickets at a retail pharmacy in Compton. Because the tickets had been flagged as stolen, the store manager notified the Sheriff’s Department. L.M. was detained as he left the store. Powell was taken to the parking lot of the Compton store where the police had detained the suspect. Powell identified the person in custody (L.M.) as the individual who had used pepper spray. Powell, who had never seen L.M. prior to the robbery, again identified L.M. in court as the robber-assailant. Following Powell’s in-field identification, L.M. was arrested and taken to the police station. Seven scratched-off lottery tickets were found in his pocket. Prior to being questioned, L.M. was advised of his right to remain silent, to the presence of an