P. v. Garcia
The People filed an information charging defendant James Garcia with the first degree murder of Anthony Stafford (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a)) and alleging that he used a deadly weapon (a knife) to commit the crime (Pen. Code, 12022, subd. (b)(1)). Defendant testified at trial and admitted having killed Stafford. The issues for the jury were whether defendant acted in self-defense and, if not, whether he was guilty of a lesser homicide crime. The jury convicted him of second degree murder. The trial court, after finding true various prior conviction allegations, sentenced defendant to a term of 36 years to life. On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court committed prejudicial error in excluding some defense evidence. He further urges the trial court violated his due process right to a fair trial by asking one question during his (defendants) testimony. Court find no merit to any of these contentions and therefore affirm the judgment.
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