P. v. Luna CA2/1
On appeal, it is undisputed that defendant Gustavo Armando Luna, Jr. shot and killed a rival gang member, Christopher Hernandez. Hernandez’s family saw the shooting, which occurred just after Hernandez’s sister’s middle school graduation. Defendant was convicted of first degree murder.
Defendant argues that the following error requires automatic reversal of his conviction: (1) the trial court’s comments on reasonable doubt during jury selection, which defendant contends lowered the burden of proof; and (2) the trial court’s denial of defendant’s peremptory challenge when the trial court granted the prosecution’s Batson/Wheeler motion. We conclude there was no structural error. Under the totality of the circumstances, the trial court’s comments could not reasonably have been understood to lower the prosecution’s burden of proof. Second, although the trial court failed to set forth explicitly his reasoning for denying the peremptory challenge, as a matter gov
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