By Alana Bleimann and Lovepreet Dhinsa
SACRAMENTO – Despite acknowledging the lack of substantial evidence and the discrepancies in officer testimonies, Judge Steve White ruled in Sacramento County Superior Court here Tuesday that a homeless man—who used a stolen car for shelter—should stand trial for felony “joyriding.”
Defendant Brandon Hughes has admitted to sleeping in an allegedly stolen Honda Accord in July 2020, but even the judge had doubts at Hughes’ preliminary hearing that the defendant stole the care.
“It would simply be speculation that he’s the one who stole the car,” and does not rise to the level of circumstantial evidence, White stated.
Hughes, although charges can change, was charged with “joyriding” and receiving stolen property, both felonies. 
After receiving a call for a suspected stolen vehicle around 12:37 a.m., Officer Armando Sandoval said the victim explained “when he came out to leave work he noticed his car was gone and the keys he left on the chair outside” were gone from his place of employment parking lot.
The victim stated that he was in the process of buying the Honda from his friend and that no one had permission to drive the car. He also had no idea who the suspect may be.
According to Assistant Public Defender Steven Hirsch, “someone just snatched the keys and used the keys to drive the car away.”
The restaurant had surveillance cameras but Sandoval was unable to look at the footage that night because only the manager had access.
No one followed up to access the camera footage, according to the officer
Two nights later, Officer Jessica Lenehan was patrolling streets when she noticed an unoccupied silver Honda Accord parked in an alleyway, she testified, and noted she ran the plates and the car came back as stolen.
Officer Lenehan stated that she “observed two male adults and west of the location I was at…..I recognized Brandon Brooks,” who was with Brandon Hughes west of where the vehicle was parked. Hughes was on informal unsearchable probation at the time.
She questioned the two males about the vehicle but they claimed to not know anything about it.
“I let them go,” Lenehan stated, because “they were not in close enough proximity that I would put them to the vehicle.”
Upon conducting an inventory search of the vehicle, Officer Lenehan located a written bill of sale, a moving permit, and the vehicle registration.
On the bill of sale, it was written, “I, [seller of the vehicle] sold Brandon Hughes my Honda 2000 for $1,950” with two signatures.
Officer Lenehan then went back to Hughes’ location in the alleyway and detained him in handcuffs.
Hughes did admit “he had been sleeping in the car and he did not know it was stolen,” and forged the bill of sale “because he did not want to get in trouble,” said the officer.
It was later revealed that the defendant had been sleeping in the vehicle for approximately 3-4 nights.
Lenehan also found clothing in the trunk of the car, which Hughes initially confirmed was his but later denied ownership.
Officer Lenehan claimed the value of the vehicle was $1,010, despite not conducting a thorough examination of the car, including taking into consideration important factors such as the mileage and physical condition of the vehicle.
It was not clear where this value was taken from because Lenehan could not recall whether it was on the lower end of the range or closer to the median amount.
The officer said the victim denied writing the bill of sale and didn’t know Hughes. The registered owner of the vehicle was contacted by the victim, who also denied knowing the defendant or ever signing the bill of sale himself.
Officer Lenehan confirmed wearing an activated body cam but failed to review it before the hearing.
She also attested that the defendant was not found with the key to the car on his person or in the car, and Officer Lenehan did not observe either of the males driving or in the car.
PD Hirsch argued that there was insufficient evidence to hold Hughes to answer on the unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle.
There was a lack of evidence that he ever drove or took the car, said the PD, and suggested Hughes could have simply have “come across it in the alleyway after it was taken and dumped by someone else.”
Hirsch further argued that the Honda is a 21-year-old car, and the “only evidence we have of value should…be given little if any weight as it was simply a search by the officer of a publicly accessible database.”
Hirsch claimed that the defendant was “acting opportunistically here, using a car he came across in an alleyway as a temporary shelter, adding there were no significant damages to the car and the registered vehicle owner was able to recover it.
District Deputy Attorney Emilee Divinagracia argued that the defendant suffered a prior vehicle violation in February of 2015 as well as a burglary in 1999, stating that this crime wasn’t a crime of opportunity, but rather one in that the defendant had an intent to “continue staying in this car, to pass off that he owned the car.”
Despite acknowledging the lack of evidence against the defendant and speculation on whether he was the one who stole the car, Judge Steve White ruled against the defendant.
“It would simply be speculation that he’s the one who stole the car,” and does not rise to the level of circumstantial evidence, White stated.
“On the value of the car, I do think the People established fairly enough,” he continued, “I wish to suggest…that in a case where the value is that close to $950 that the police work or the follow-up work by the District Attorney be more thorough, that they actually punch in the mileage and other specifics and also know what the range is and know whether they have given a value that is at the low end of the spectrum or the middle…this is just not acceptable.”
Further trial proceedings are set for late March of this year.
Alana Bleimann is a junior at the University of San Francisco majoring in Sociology with a minor in Criminal Justice Studies. She is from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Lovepreet Dhinsa is a junior undergraduate student at the University of San Francisco, pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Politics with a minor in Legal Studies. She has a passion for criminal defense law, and strives to go to law school to fight for indigent clients. As such, she is also involved in her university’s mock trial program and student government.
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