P. v. Armendariz
A jury convicted defendant Manuel Armendariz of second degree murder in violation of Penal Code section 187, subdivision (a)[1] (count 1). The jury found that defendant personally and intentionally discharged a handgun, which caused great bodily injury and death to the victim within the meaning of section 12022.53, subdivision (d).
The trial court sentenced defendant to a term of 40 years to life in state prison. The sentence consisted of 15 years to life as the base count, plus a consecutive term of 25 years to life pursuant to section 12022.53, subdivision (d).
Defendant appeals on the grounds that: (1) the trial court erred in not instructing on the lesser included offense of heat of passion manslaughter; (2) it was error to instruct with CALCRIM No. 522 that provocation should be considered in deciding whether murder is reduced to manslaughter where only imperfect self-defense manslaughter instructions were given; (3) the trial court committed reversible error by not instructing the jury that an unintentional killing during an assaultive felony constitutes voluntary manslaughter; and (4) there was insufficient evidence to sustain a finding of murder, since the uncontroverted testimony showed that defendant acted in perfect or imperfect self-defense.
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