P. v. Paredes
During a birthday party for defendant at the home he shared with his mother, a fight broke out. Someone introduced a shotgun into the mix and in a struggle for possession of that weapon it accidentally fired, fatally wounding defendants mother. At defendants trial for second degree murder, witnesses gave evidence that was internally inconsistent, inconsistent with their prior statements to police, and inconsistent with one another. Relying on evidence that it was defendant who retrieved the shotgun from the house after a fistfight with one of the party guests, the prosecutors theory of the case was that the natural and probable consequences of defendants act of getting the gun was dangerous to life and therefore supported a finding of implied malice second degree murder. The jury was persuaded and convicted defendant as charged. Granting defendants Penal Code section 1181, subdivision (6) motion, the trial court reduced the verdict to the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter, finding insufficient evidence of implied malice. On appeal, the People contend that the trial court erred in finding the evidence insufficient. Defendant also appealed from the judgment, but his counsel filed an opening brief, which did not raise any arguable issues and requested independent review pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). After review of the record, we conclude the trial court acted within its discretion in reducing the conviction to involuntary manslaughter, and that no other errors affected defendants conviction. Accordingly, Court affirm.
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