Opinion ID: 2639482
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Robbery at the Mad Greek Restaurant

Text: On December 19, 1988, a young Black man dressed in blue came into the Mad Greek Restaurant in Riverside and ordered a soft drink. When he paid at the cash register, the money in the register was visible. About five minutes later the man returned, accompanied by three other Black men wearing similar blue clothing. Defendant was the only person with a gun. Defendant pointed a revolver at Maria Zuniga, the cashier, and ordered her to open the cash drawer. Zuniga was unable to open the drawer, but Javier Sierra, the cook, opened it. The four men took the cash from the register. One of the men confronted customers Lola Hall and Thomas Chegwidden. When Hall denied having a purseshe had hidden it under the boothone of defendant's companions struck Chegwidden. Defendant came over and shot Chegwidden in the chest. The bullet narrowly missed Chegwidden's heart and lodged under his sternum. Defendant then pointed the gun at Hall's head and shot, but missed. As the four men left, defendant fired at Sierra, the cook. Then, saying this one's for you, he shot at Zuniga. Both of these shots missed. Zuniga later identified defendant in a lineup. The defense presented no evidence relating to the crimes at the Mad Greek Restaurant and conceded at closing argument that the prosecutor had a strong case and good witnesses to support the charges against defendant arising from those events.