P. v. Castaneda
A jury convicted defendant and appellant Christopher Daniel Castaneda of second degree murder. (Pen. Code, § 187.)[1] The jury also found true certain enhancement allegations based upon defendant’s personal use and discharge of a firearm in committing the murder. (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (c), (d).) He was sentenced to a term of 40 years to life in prison.
Defendant makes the following contentions on appeal: (1) there is no substantial evidence of malice aforethought, an element of murder; (2) there is no substantial evidence of the corpus delicti of murder independent of defendant’s out-of-court statements; (3) the court’s corpus delicti instruction erroneously permitted the jury to convict defendant of murder if the jury found there was independent evidence of involuntary manslaughter; (4) the court erred in failing to instruct the jury sua sponte on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter; and (5) there is no substantial evidence that defendant intentionally discharged the gun, a requirement of two firearm enhancements. We reject these arguments and affirm the judgment.
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