What is the test for determining whether a motel room is an inhabited dwelling for the purposes of a robbery and first degree burglary?

A trial court has a duty to instruct the jury on the general principles of law which are relevant to the issues raised by the evidence. Such instructions are required even without request. (People v. Valdez (2004) 32 Cal.4th 73, 115; People v. Burney (2009) 47 Cal.4th 203, 246.)

First degree robbery ( 212.5, subd. (a)) and first degree burglary ( 460, subd. (a)) require that the offense be committed in an inhabited dwelling. Indeed, it is the nature of the inhabited dwelling that elevates the basic offense to first degree. A motel room can be an inhabited dwelling if it is being used as a place of repose, even if only for several days. (People v. Villalobos (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 310, 317-321.) Thus, the trial court here had a duty to instruct the jury on the definition of an inhabited dwelling for the charged offenses. The court properly defined the term as it applied to both offenses. The court said:

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