P. v. Ruiz



















Filed 9/28/10 P. v.
Ruiz CA3

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>NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

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California
Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or
relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except
as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This
opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for
purposes of rule 8.1115.





IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF >CALIFORNIA >

THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

(Sacramento >)

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THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JORGE PADILLA RUIZ, Defendant and Appellant.

C060746 (Super. Ct. No. 07F00541)

A jury convicted
defendant Jorge Padilla Ruiz of the first
degree murders (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189)[1]
of Lonnie Taylor (count one) and Roosevelt Campbell (count two), and found that
defendant intentionally and personally discharged a firearm causing great
bodily injury during the commission of each count (§ 12022.53,
subd. (d)). The jury also found true
three special circumstances:
(1) defendant committed multiple murders (§ 190.2,
subd. (a)(3)); (2) he murdered the victims because of their race
(§ 190.2, subd. (a)(16)); and (3) he perpetrated the murders by
discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle with intent to inflict death (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(21)). Defendant was sentenced to state prison for an aggregate term of
50 years to life for the firearm enhancements plus two consecutive terms
of life without the possibility of parole.
No conduct credit was awarded.[2]

On appeal,
defendant contends (1) there was insufficient evidence to support the
racial motivation special circumstance, and (2) the trial court erred by
failing to conduct a Marsden[3]
hearing when defense counsel stated that defendant wanted a new lawyer to
investigate a new trial motion. We shall affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Prosecution Case-in-chief

On the morning
of April 23, 2006, an
eyewitness saw a fight between a group of four young Black men, ages 18 to
24, and a group of five young Mexican men at a convenience store parking lot in
the area of Northgate and West El Camino, which is a predominantly Hispanic
area.

The eyewitness
saw one of the Black men hit a Mexican man very hard, knocking him
unconscious. The unconscious man was
defendant's brother, Ricardo Ruiz.[4] The eyewitness saw the other Mexican men
carry Ricardo to a green Mustang convertible, which was owned by Ricardo.

Later that same
morning, another eyewitness was walking down Del Paso
Boulevard to a gas station on the corner of Del
Paso and El Camino. Unlike the area of
Northgate and West El Camino, the area of Del Paso and El Camino is populated
predominantly by African-Americans. In
the early morning hours, the gas station is a busy area for illicit activities
including prostitution, drug sales, and drug use.

The eyewitness
heard five or six gunshots and saw a white four-door, mid-sized SUV leaving the
parking lot of an auto parts store. The
SUV had a red stripe along its side.
After the shooting, the SUV sped from the parking lot onto Rio
Linda Boulevard.
At least two Black men were visible on the ground. After the shooting, people congregated around
victims Campbell and Taylor, including Taylor's
brother-in-law, Xavier McCullough.

A trail of blood
led from a nearby covered bus stop to the bodies. The bus stop's glass was shattered, and
Campbell's and Taylor's possessions were inside the bus stop. An autopsy revealed that Campbell and Taylor
died of gunshot wounds. Taylor's
wounds were consistent with being shot while seated on the bus stop bench. Campbell and Taylor were both 40 years
old at the time of their death.

The bullets
recovered during the autopsy were consistent with shell casings found in the
parking lot of the auto parts store.

Early one
morning in April 2006, defendant woke his cousin Javier Ruiz, who lived in the
same apartment complex as defendant.
Defendant brought Javier into a bathroom and told him that he had shot
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