 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
People v. Gaspar2/25/2003
Defendant Gaspar was charged with one count of first degree murder in violation of Penal Code section 187. It was further alleged that defendant personally used a knife to commit the murder (§§ 12022, subd. (b)(1) & 1192.7, subd. (c)(23)).
The trial court granted defendant's section 1118.1 motion to dismiss allegations that the murder was deliberate and premeditated, thus reducing the crime to second degree murder. Defendant was then convicted of second degree murder and the personal use allegation was found to be true. He was sentenced to a total term of 16 years to life.
Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court improperly precluded the jurors' consideration of his intoxication on the issue of implied malice. He also asserts three instructional errors: (1) failure to instruct on unconsciousness as a theory for reaching a verdict on involuntary manslaughter as a necessarily included offense; (2) inappropriate giving of CALJIC No. 4.22; and (3) failure to instruct the jurors that they must consider evidence of intoxication.
FACTS
Prior to February 2, 2000, defendant Gaspar and the victim, Andres Diego, lived in a converted garage in the Casa Blanca section of Riverside. Osvaldo Castro, an occupant of the front house on the property, testified that he was cleaning his yard between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. on February 2, 2000, when he saw defendant Gaspar knocking on the door of the converted garage. Obtaining no response, defendant Gaspar left and returned about an hour later with a friend. They asked Mr. Castro if he had a key to the converted garage and Mr. Castro eventually helped the friend enter the unit through a window. The friend immediately opened the front door and Mr. Castro entered. He saw Mr. Diego lying in a pool of blood on a bed. Mr. Castro also testified that defendant Gaspar was drinking liquor from a paper bag and he appeared to be drunk. The friend did not allow defendant Gaspar to go into the converted garage, although Mr. Castro thought that defendant wanted to enter.
Detective Shumway responded at about 8:30 p.m. It appeared that Mr. Diego had been stabbed repeatedly with a knife that was found in the kitchen sink. Mr. Diego was lying on a bed and there was blood and blood splatters all around the bed. The home was in disarray, but it did not appear to have been ransacked. There were numerous beer cans and several liquor bottles strewn about. Mr. Castro testified that defendant Gaspar and Mr. Diego had lived together for about five months, and they drank together.
Detective Eveland testified that he saw blood on defendant Gaspar's clothing and preserved the clothing as evidence. However, defendant appeared to be uninjured. DNA analysis established that the blood on defendant's clothing was Mr. Diego's blood. An autopsy established that Mr. Diego's blood alcohol level at time of death was .36 to .43, which is over four times the legal limit for driving. A criminalist testified that a person with that blood alcohol level would be very intoxicated, and would be close to unconsciousness and even death from alcohol poisoning.
At the close of the prosecution's case, the trial court granted a section 1118.1 motion, finding insufficient evidence of premeditation and deliberation to support a first degree murder verdict. A first degree murder theory was therefore not presented to the jury.
The defense introduced evidence that Mr. Diego had been in a traffic accident the night before he was killed. At that time, Mr. Diego was intoxicated with a .24 blood alcohol level. He was arrested for driving under the influence and released at 2:00 a.m. on the day he was killed. At the time of hi
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 California DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|