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People v. Pryor11/6/2002
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
Defendant Isaiah Pryor appeals from his conviction for residential burglary, contending the trial court made several instructional errors and his sentence of 25 years to life is cruel and unusual punishment. We affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
1. The Charges
Pryor was charged by information with one count of residential burglary (Pen. Code, § 459). The information also alleged Pryor had suffered prior serious or violent felony convictions for residential burglary and attempted residential burglary (§§ 667, subds. (a)(1), (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)) and served prior prison terms within the meaning of section 667.5, subdivision (b). Based on the prior conviction allegations, this was a third-strike case.
2. The People's Evidence
On the afternoon of May 20, 2000 Nicholas Pernice returned to his home on South Rossmore, where he rented a portion of the house from its owner Laura Babin. As he approached the gate through which he entered his portion of the house, Pernice noticed someone crawling through the window to the laundry room. All Pernice could see was the person's legs hanging out of the window. The individual was wearing dark pants and tan-colored, loafer-type shoes. Because he believed someone was breaking into the house, Pernice decided not to enter and asked a neighbor to call 911.
Two officers arrived at the scene and, while talking to Pernice, noticed an individual outside the front door of the Babin home, who fled when he saw the police. It was unclear at the time whether this individual, who appeared to be Hispanic, was the same person Pernice saw crawling through the window of the house or a second person involved in the burglary.
Several neighbors then called 911 and reported seeing a man hiding and/or running through their backyards. One neighbor described a Hispanic man, another a "dark-skinned" man and a third an African- American man. Based on these reports and the description of a Hispanic man leaving the Babin residence, the officers searched for two suspects.
Two additional officers who had been deployed to the area heard noises coming from the garage of a home near the Babin residence. A man identified at trial as Pryor, who is African-American, was found hiding in the rafters of the garage. Pryor was wearing navy blue, Docker-style pants and tan loafers. Pernice told the police the pants and shoes he had seen on the person crawling through the window of the Babin residence were similar to those worn by Pryor when he was apprehended. Pryor had various items of personal property in his possession, some of which was identified by Babin as her own.
3. Defendant's Evidence
Pryor testified on his own behalf, stating he had been in the area of Rossmore Street during the afternoon of May 20, 2000 to meet another man to purchase drugs. After making his purchase, Pryor was walking back to his car when he noticed police activity and two men running up the street. Fearing the police were looking for him because of the drugs he had just purchased, he ran into a backyard and buried the drugs. He did not want to be caught because he was on parole. Pryor then jumped a fence, entered an open garage, closed the door and hid in the rafters of the garage until the police ultimately found him. Pryor said h
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