People v. Lopez
California Supreme Court
79 P. 3d 548 (2003)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Wa Vue Yang was sitting in his van in a parking lot. He had placed his keys in the ignition but had not yet started or moved the vehicle. Daniel Lopez (defendant) approached the van, pulled out a gun, shot at the ground, and ordered Yang out of the vehicle. Yang complied but left his keys in the ignition. Lopez sat in the driver’s seat but did not start the vehicle’s engine. Yang began to walk away but decided that Lopez’s weapon was an air pistol and returned to the van. Lopez pointed his gun at Yang and pulled the trigger twice, but the gun did not fire. Lopez fled from the van. The State of California (plaintiff) charged Lopez with a number of crimes, including carjacking. Lopez was convicted and sentenced as a habitual offender to a substantial term of imprisonment. Lopez appealed, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to uphold the carjacking conviction because the van’s engine had not been started or moved. The court of appeal affirmed the carjacking conviction and rejected Lopez’s argument. The Supreme Court of California granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Chin, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
