California v. Robins
Annotate this CaseDefendant Wesley Robins was alleged to have aided and abetted in what started out as a shoplifting, but turned into an "Estes" robbery, recklessly evading authorities. He was convicted of attempted second-degree robbery (count 1) and felony reckless evading (count 2). Defendant admitted a prior strike, a prior prison term, and a prior serious felony. The court sentenced defendant to 32 months in prison on count 1, which was double the low term because of the prior strike. It sentenced defendant to a concurrent 32 months in prison on count 2, which was also double the low term. The court imposed but immediately struck a five-year enhancement for the prior serious felony and a one-year enhancement for the prior prison term. The result was a total prison sentence of 32 months. On appeal, defendant argued: (1) he could not be convicted of an attempted Estes robbery because there was no such crime; and (2) and (3) both the attempted robbery conviction and the reckless evading conviction were on the theory that these were natural and probable consequences of aiding and abetting the theft. Defendant was neither the thief, nor the getaway driver. Defendant contended there was insufficient evidence to support the theory in either case. The Court of Appeal determined that the gist of defendant’s argument was that the concept of an attempted Estes robbery was incoherent: when someone takes clothes from a retail store and uses force to get away, it does not matter if a store employee successfully retrieves the property; the instant force is used, the Estes robbery is complete. There is no possibility of a mere attempt, according to defendant. "While this is a clever argument," the Court of Appeal rejected it. The Court disagreed the evidence was insufficient to support the robbery and evading convictions, and affirmed all convictions.
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