People v. Hardy CA3

California Court of Appeal·Decided August 24, 2026·No. C101995·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 8/24/26 P. v. Hardy CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

(Sacramento)

THE PEOPLE, C101995 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 19FE019285)

v.

SEAN TRESJON HARDY, Defendant and Appellant.

At a house party, defendant Sean Tresjon Hardy shot and killed Chancelor Fields-

Colbert. A jury convicted Hardy of second degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon and found true as to the murder that Hardy personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. The trial court found true two aggravating circumstances and sentenced Hardy to a total of 40 years to life.

On appeal, Hardy contends that (1) the trial court abused its discretion under Evidence Code1 sections 352 and 352.2 in admitting a still image from a rap video depicting Hardy holding a Glock firearm; and (2) defense counsel was ineffective for failing to object or request remedial action as to testimony describing the firearm shown in the still image as fully automatic and equipped with an extended magazine capable of

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Evidence Code.

holding 32 rounds. On this last point, he alternatively argues the trial court erred by failing to sua sponte issue a limiting instruction on the admissibility of past conduct.

We affirm.

BACKGROUND

After 10:00 p.m. on July 20, 2019, Q.P. and Fields-Colbert went to a party in Fair Oaks. At the party, a fight broke out behind a bar. Wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, Hardy approached the bar, pulled a gun from his pocket, pointed it over the bar, and fired two shots.

Sometime after, C.V. went outside with Fields-Colbert. They saw their friends being jumped in the driveway and went to help them. C.V. joined the fight, but Fields- Colbert tried to break it up. Hardy swung on Fields-Colbert. J.M. saw the fight and ran over as Hardy pulled out a gun, so J.M. and Fields-Colbert turned and ran. Hardy then discharged his firearm three to four times, shooting Fields-Colbert in the back. Fields- Colbert yelled and fell next to J.M. Eventually, law enforcement and an ambulance arrived. Fields-Colbert was transported to the hospital, where he received surgery but succumbed to his injuries. An autopsy revealed Fields-Colbert suffered a single gunshot wound.

Multiple witnesses identified Hardy as the shooter or otherwise similarly described the shooter. H.C. video recorded the fight at the bar and identified Hardy as the shooter, who she described as having “[d]ark skin” and “prominent cheekbones” and wearing a red hoodie pulled up over his head, a black T-shirt underneath, and jeans. H.C. identified Hardy as the shooter in a live lineup.

C.V. identified Hardy as the shooter in both shootings, describing him as a “[d]ark” African-American male in a bright red hoodie with long sleeves and the hood up.

N.O. identified Hardy as the shooter in both shootings2 and described him as an “African-American male with a red hoodie” that had long sleeves and had the hood up. She saw Hardy’s face and recognized him as Pook G. from rap videos she had previously seen. At trial, she identified Hardy in exhibits 1-73 and 1-74, which were still images from rap videos.

Q.P. described the shooter as a five-foot 10-inch dark-skinned Black man with “a slim build” wearing gray sweatpants and a red hoodie with the hood up.

J.M. identified the same person as the shooter in both shootings, describing him as Black and wearing a red sweater.

At the scene, a deputy collected four .40-caliber shell casings outside and two .40-

caliber shell casings inside, all of which had been fired from the same weapon. The bullet recovered from Fields-Colbert’s body was a .40-caliber projectile that was fired from a semiautomatic pistol. Assuming the bullet and casings were fired from the same firearm, only a generation four or earlier Glock pistol could have fired them all.

The parties stipulated that Hardy had “previously been convicted of a felony and [wa]s therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm. This prohibition was in place on July 21, 2019.”

An amended information charged Hardy with first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); count one), and possession of a firearm as a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1); count two). It was further alleged as to count one that Hardy personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or death (Pen. Code, § 12022.53, subd. (d)). Aggravating factors were alleged as to both counts

2 N.O. described a second shooter in the outside shooting as someone in a black “wifebeater” shirt, and she told law enforcement that Hardy and the second shooter each fired two shots.

The jury found Hardy not guilty of first degree murder but guilty of the lesser included offense of second degree murder on count one and guilty of possession of a firearm as a felon on count two. It found true as to count one that Hardy personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. In bifurcated proceedings, the trial court found true the aggravating circumstances.

The trial court sentenced Hardy to 40 years to life as follows: 15 years to life for the murder plus 25 years to life for the firearm enhancement. The court imposed and stayed a consecutive upper term of three years on count two.

Hardy timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

I

Admission of Still Image from Rap Video under Sections 352 and 352.2 Hardy contends the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the rap video still image of him holding a Glock firearm. A. Background In motions in limine, the People moved to admit three still images from a rap video of Hardy holding a “Glock style handgun” to prove Hardy had access to a similar style weapon used in the homicide three months before the homicide. The People explained that two shootings occurred on July 21, 2019, including one inside the house, during which two shots were fired, and one a few minutes later outside on the street, during which four shots were fired and which resulted in the homicide. Two shell casings were found inside the house and four outside, all of which were .40-caliber, as was the bullet that hit Fields-Colbert. The criminalist determined that 40 to 50 guns could have fired these bullets, including a Glock but all of which were “a similar style” to the firearm Hardy was pictured holding in the still images from the rap video.

Defense counsel objected, arguing admission of these images would confuse the jury and be overly prejudicial to Hardy because the People’s expert would testify that

“there’s a whole list of guns that would be consistent with being able to fire the type of bullet that was found inside of [Fields-Colbert’s] body.” Counsel further asserted that “a gun in a rap video is akin to rap lyrics,” and expressions of this type require a further showing by the People to be admissible. Finally, defense counsel argued the prejudicial value of this “character type evidence” precludes their admission under section 352.

The People added that the still images are “very different than introducing rap lyrics.” The court agreed.

Defense counsel further argued that video of the shooting inside of the house shows the firearm did not resemble the gun from the rap video, which had an extended grip.

The People agreed that the gun in the video of the inside shooting did not have an extended magazine but explained that firearm magazines are interchangeable.

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