P. v. Hall
In the early morning of January 23, 2010, in Del Paso Heights, 18-year-old defendant Ricardo Lynn Hall shot victim Mathew Maurizzio twice from three to four feet away, including fatally in the heart. The circumstances of the shooting were these: Maurizzio had about $1,000 on him and wanted to buy drugs. When defendant learned about the money, he and two friends talked about robbing the victim. Defendant, with a gun in hand, demanded money from the victim. The victim pushed past defendant. Defendant said the victim had disrespected him, and defendant’s friend yelled at defendant, “ ‘don’t do that.’ †Defendant shot the victim anyway.
About eight months before defendant shot the victim, defendant told a friend, “he wanted to know what it felt like to kill somebody,†just after he had unsuccessfully tried to choke a cat.
At trial in this case, defendant testified on his own behalf that there had been some discussion about a drug swap between one of his friends and the victim. The victim walked past defendant but then stopped. Defendant had a gun in his pocket “in case something happened.†Defendant’s friend told defendant to give him the gun, and as defendant pulled it out, he noticed the victim staring at him. The victim started coming at defendant. Defendant earlier had been told that the victim had a knife, so defendant thought the victim was going to stab him. Defendant had been stabbed in the past.
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