People v. Bernal CA4/3

Filed 8/26/20 P. v. Bernal CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G058016

v. (Super. Ct. No. 13NF4299)

ADAN BERNAL, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, John Conley, Judge. Affirmed. Erica Gambale, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Daniel Rogers and Christopher P. Beesley, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION Appellant Adan Bernal was convicted by a jury of first degree residential burglary based solely on DNA discovered on the handle of the door believed to have been used to gain entry to the home. On appeal, he contends this evidence alone was insufficient to support a conviction. We disagree, find this evidence was indeed sufficient, and therefore affirm. FACTS The following facts were adduced at trial: On the afternoon of November 24, 2012, Carol Marzolo returned to her Buena Park home after spending some time at her mother’s house. Her husband, Danny, and their daughter had gone to Barstow on a waterskiing trip and the house was empty. From the beginning, the house seemed a bit peculiar. As Carol entered, she noticed the deadbolt on the door leading from the garage to the house was unlocked. It was usually locked.1 She went up to her bedroom. There she saw her credit cards lying on top of her dresser, as if someone had gone through them. Suspicious, she checked the master closet where she had a built-in jewelry box. The top drawer was open. In it, she usually kept a piece of gold jewelry from her mother-in-law wrapped up in a floral napkin. This time, however, the napkin was hanging out of the drawer and the gold was nowhere to be seen. She then saw that another locked drawer in the closet had been broken into. Carol turned around to check the area where she and Danny usually kept their safe. The safe contained cash, dividend checks, pink slips, bonds, birth certificates, and all of the couple’s important paperwork. It would normally be underneath their laundry basket. It had disappeared.