P. v. Abadir
Defendant Christian Samir Abadir hired two men to burn down his house. He then filed claims against his homeowner’s insurance policy for the losses. Defendant was charged with arson and related crimes.[2] In his first trial, defendant testified and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charges, although the majority voted in favor of guilt. Defendant did not testify at his second trial and the jury convicted him.
The trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial, which was based on ineffective assistance of counsel and other grounds. The trial court sentenced defendant to prison for eight years.
On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his new trial motion because his trial counsel was ineffective when he discouraged defendant from testifying at his second trial, as well as when he failed to communicate with him, to investigate the case, and to move for a mistrial based on jury tampering. We conclude the trial court properly exercised its discretion in denying the new trial motion because defendant failed to establish that trial counsel’s performance was deficient or that any prejudice resulted from the alleged deficiencies. In addition, defendant forfeited any new issue not raised below in the new trial motion.
The trial court neither imposed nor struck the section 451.1, subdivision (a)(5), enhancement. Accordingly, the case should be remanded for the limited purpose of allowing the court an opportunity to exercise its discretion in this regard. Otherwise, we affirm the judgment.
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