People v. Garcia-Munguia CA2/3

California Court of Appeal·Decided August 11, 2014·No. B243213M·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 8/11/14 P. v. Garcia-Munguia CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, B243213

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. LA062209) v.

BRYAN JULIUS GARCIA-MUNGUIA, ORDER MODIFYING OPINION AND DENYING REHEARING Defendant and Appellant. [NO CHANGE IN JUDGMENT]

THE COURT: It is ordered that the opinion filed herein on July 10, 2014, be modified as follows: 1. On page 8, in the first full paragraph, the first sentence beginning “Finally, even if the trial court” is deleted and the following is inserted in its place: Finally, even if the trial court abused its discretion by excluding Lara’s proffered testimony, the jury heard appellant’s counsel’s remarks during opening statement that appellant had schizophrenia, heard the court’s later instruction that what attorneys say in opening statements was not evidence and opening statements were meant to be a preview of the evidence, and heard evidence concerning appellant’s mental health problem and schizophrenia.

2. On page 13, the first two sentences are deleted and the following is inserted in their place: In sum, in the argument section of his opening brief, appellant asserts the prosecutor argued certain matters that appellant places in quotation marks, but appellant frequently fails to quote accurately the prosecutor’s arguments, if any. Moreover, to the extent appellant suggests the matters within those quotation marks are merely his characterization of prosecutorial arguments more fully recited in appellant’s statement of the relevant facts in his opening brief, we have considered that recitation and the prosecutor’s arguments as set forth in the record. The prosecutor’s comments were fair comment on the evidence (see Hill, supra, 17 Cal.4th at p. 819), except perhaps to the extent the court instructed the jury to disregard prosecutorial comments (see fn. 6, ante), and those instructions cured any harm.

There is no change in the judgment. Appellant’s petition for rehearing is denied.

2 Filed 7/10/14 P. v. Garcia-Munguia CA2/3 (unmodified version) NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. LA062209) v.

BRYAN JULIUS GARCIA-MUNGUIA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Gregory Dohi, Judge. Affirmed. Corona & Peabody and Jennifer L. Peabody, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Shawn McGahey Webb and Ryan M. Smith, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_________________________ Appellant Bryan Julius Garcia-Munguia appeals from the judgment entered following his conviction by jury on count 1 – first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187) with personal use of a dangerous and deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b)(1)). The court sentenced appellant to prison for 26 years to life. We affirm. FACTUAL SUMMARY 1. People’s Evidence. Viewed in accordance with the usual rules on appeal (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206), the evidence, the sufficiency of which is undisputed, established appellant lived with his mother, Saida Munguia (Saida), the decedent, in a Reseda condominium. When appellant was 15 years old, he developed epilepsy and his relationship with Saida began to deteriorate. Appellant was defiant, disrespectful, and assaultive towards Saida.1 On May 31, 2009, Saida left the residence to go on an outing and appellant stayed home because he was angry. Saida eventually returned and,

1 A neighbor overheard appellant and Saida arguing, and appellant yelling a couple of times to Saida, “Bitch, I’m going to kill you.” On April 12, 2008, Saida and her boyfriend, Elan Palmer, removed appellant from the residence. Appellant, angry, said he would return with friends and kill Palmer, and appellant broke a window at the residence. Sometime after April 2008, appellant battered Saida. In about March 2009, appellant returned from Honduras and was more violent than ever. On May 28, 2009, appellant was defiantly playing loud music in the residence. Saida turned off the electricity in the residence. Appellant called Saida a bitch and later told her it was “time to kill.” Saida summoned police and, when they arrived, appellant was extremely angry and expressed hatred. On May 29, 2009, appellant called 911, claimed Saida was a roommate who was stealing from him, and asked for police assistance to recover his property. Appellant did not tell the 911 operator Saida was appellant’s mother. On May 29, 2009, Saida, crying, told Adam Padavic, a friend, she was making plans to have appellant removed from the residence to get him help. On May 30, 2009, Saida took appellant to Daniel’s Place, a facility in Santa Monica where he could receive therapy. Appellant was scheduled to return there the following Monday. On some date prior to May 31, 2009, Saida called 911 and said she had a mentally ill son, appellant, who was becoming aggressive. Saida said appellant was “[a]pparently bipolar, schizophrenic, epilepsy.” Palmer testified he had met one of appellant’s psychiatrists. Renia Tong, Saida’s mother, testified that in 2009, appellant was taken to the hospital and was very nervous and acting strangely.

2 sometime between 8:00 p.m. on May 31, 2009, and the morning of June 1, 2009, appellant killed her. In particular, appellant, using a knife, stabbed Saida 14 times, i.e., seven times to her head or face, once on the left side of her neck, three times on her left shoulder, twice on the left side of her chest, and once on her left arm. One stab wound to her face, the stab wound to her neck, and a stab wound to her chest were each fatal. In addition to the 14 stab wounds, Saida had multiple defensive stab wounds on her hands. Saida’s body was discovered in appellant’s bedroom. About 8:00 p.m. on June 1, 2009, Saida’s family was outside near the residence when appellant approached. Appellant saw the family and tried to flee, but Masiel Munguia (Masiel), Saida’s sister, eventually confronted him. Masiel asked appellant, “Why did you take her away from us?” and appellant replied he did not do it, and Mexicans with black hoodies did it. About June 1, 2009, Los Angeles Police Detective Jason LeDuff conducted a videotaped interview of appellant following his arrest. Appellant initially denied killing Saida but ultimately told LeDuff the following. Appellant’s mother brought food to appellant’s room, then yelled she was appellant’s mother. Appellant stabbed Saida in her neck and chest. He stabbed her because he felt angry. Appellant was angry at Saida “[f]or being stabbed.” Appellant wanted Saida to die because she was suffering, and appellant tried to finish off “what they had started.” LeDuff asked, “What who had started?” and appellant replied, “Whoever had left her there [¶] . . . [¶] stabbed.” Appellant told LeDuff, “whoever did this must have a reason for doing this” and “must have some sort of criminal insanity background.” Appellant also told LeDuff, “I am a sane person.” 2.

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