P. v. Cervantes CA2/4
Defendant Reggie Cervantes appeals from a judgment sentencing him to 13 years in state prison after a jury convicted him on one count of voluntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (a)), and the trial court found prior strike (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(j), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)) and prior prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) allegations to be true. He contends (1) there was insufficient evidence that his conduct–stabbing the victim–caused her death; (2) the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on attempted voluntary manslaughter because the evidence supported a reasonable doubt that his conduct caused the victim’s death; (3) the trial court’s instructing the jury with CALCRIM No. 620 on causation violated his right to due process because it was an argumentative pinpoint instruction that favored the prosecution; and (4) he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to object to the prosecutor’s purportedly improper burden-shifting argu
Comments on P. v. Cervantes CA2/4