Joshua Johnson lived in a two bedroom apartment in Sacramento County with his girlfriend, their infant daughter and two roommates, Jessie Rider and Devon McDermott. He supported his family by being the neighborhood dope dealer.

On August 28, 2005 he received a phone call from Del Jay Ugalino, wanting to buy some dope. Johnson said, fine, come on over. Ugalino who had bought marijuana from Johnson ten to fifteen times before was no stranger, Johnson brought two friends with him. After Johnson got the marijuana (3 oz) out of the safe Ugalino pulled a gun out and attempted to rob him. But Johnson was swift on his feet. He put the marijuana in his underwear and ran out the front door. Luckily Ugalino and his friends did not take Johnson’s girl friend, roommates and baby hostage. Instead they ran out the front door and got into their pick up truck and left. But as the truck pulled away they hit a post leaving the bumper and the license tag behind which made the work of the police much easier.

Ugalino was convicted of one count of residential burglary, two counts of attempted robbery (Johnson and Rider), possession of a controlled substance (ecstacy) and being a felon in possession of ammunition. The jury also found that he used a gun during the felonies.

The significant legal issue is whether Ugalino can be convicted of attempted robbery of Rider. The California Court of Appeal said no. Under California law robbery is

” the felonious taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear.”

The court ruled that a victim of a robbery must be either the owner of the property, the person in possession of the property or a person with a special relationship to the owner such as to be in control of the property. Since Rider was only a roommate and the marijuana was kept in a safe for which Rider did not have a key he did not have the special relationship necessary to be the victim. Ugalino was guilty on the other charges including the attempted robbery of Johnson and I am sure he is doing enough time in prison thinking about the statement that he gave to the police when he was arrested: He told them they “couldn’t arrest him for ripping off a drug dealer.”

This brings up the second question. Since when do dope dealers go to the police for protection. Not many years ago if a dope dealer came to me and told me Johnson’s story, I would have said, hey you got away with your life, be happy–if you call the police they might arrest you. And in fact right now I am representing a woman in Alameda County who called the police to report a burglary at her house. The police entered the house to look for the burglar who had gone out the back door. The police found a significant amount of marijuana and she is charged with possession for sale of marijuana. Thus, I guess, outside of Sacramento County things have not changed much.