People v. Jimenez CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 28, 2025
DocketD082752
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Jimenez CA4/1 (People v. Jimenez CA4/1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Jimenez CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 2/28/25 P. v. Jimenez CA4/1

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D082752

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. RIF1901622)

GERARDO JIMENEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Jeffrey M. Zimel, Judge. Affirmed, sentence vacated in part, and remanded with directions. Joanna McKim, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters and Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorneys General, Steve Oetting and Heather B. Arambarri, Deputy Attorneys General for Plaintiff and Respondent. A jury convicted Gerardo Jimenez of murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a); count 1), and being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 2.) It found true an allegation as to count one that Jimenez personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. (§§ 12022.53, subd. (d), 1192.7, subd. (c)(8).) The court sentenced Jimenez to an aggregate term of 50 years to life in state prison: 25 years to life on count 1 plus 25 years for the gun enhancement. It stayed the count 2 sentence under section 654. Jimenez contends: (1) the court prejudicially erred by admitting into evidence the victim’s statements made approximately two weeks before the murder; (2) the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing arguments and alternatively, defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to those arguments; (3) the matter should be remanded for resentencing on the enhancement because the court was unaware of its discretion under section 1385; and (4) the trial court erroneously calculated his actual custody credits. The People concede and we agree the last contention has merit. We also conclude the court should resentence Jimenez on the gun enhancement in light of section 1385. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of conviction, vacate the sentence on the enhancement, and remand with directions set forth below. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Prosecution Case B.C. testified that in early January 2019, she was living in an encampment described as “a community of trailers or RV’s, things like that, that was off the grid in the hills near Perris.” She knew Jimenez, who lived in the same area. Around that time, she witnessed an incident between

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Jimenez and the victim, Rafael Quintero: “[Quintero] came in the trailer area really fast in his truck and [Jimenez] told him to slow down, that there was kids and dogs in there, that he needed to watch out. And [Quintero] got mad and took out his gun and shot around [Jimenez’s] feet.” B.C. heard Jimenez tell Quintero that “if [Quintero is] going to take out a gun, it’s to use it, and not to play with it . . . if [Quintero] doesn’t kill him, that he is going to kill [Quintero].” Days afterwards, B.C. discussed the incident with Jimenez and he commented, “Well, it’s not over because when you take out a gun, you are supposed to use it. It’s to use it, not to show it off or to play with it.” At trial, B.C. did not remember some things she told the detectives about the incident. But the parties stipulated that an investigator would testify B.C. had reported that after the incident when Quintero drove through the encampment, Jimenez told her he was going to Anza to get his guns. B.C. testified she used drugs around the time of the incident, and still struggled with drug use at the time of trial. She had prior felony theft convictions, and testified under a grant of immunity. E.B. testified that in early January 2019, when she was living in the same encampment, Quintero sped through it and Jimenez reprimanded him for that. E.B. recounted Quintero’s response in the following colloquy: [E.B.]: [Quintero] pretty much told [Jimenez] he wasn’t going to tell him what to do and— [Defense counsel]: Objection. Hearsay. [The court]: Overruled. [Prosecutor]: You can continue. “[E.B]: [Quintero] pretty much told [Jimenez] he wasn’t going to tell him what to do and [Quintero] did pull a gun out on [Jimenez] and shot . . . .”

3 Later that same day, Jimenez told E.B. that “he was going to get [Quintero] because nobody pulls out a gun on him and not shoots [sic] him.” Approximately two weeks later, E.B. was in her RV and saw Quintero looking through a junk pile that Jimenez owned. Jimenez showed up and was talking angrily with Quintero. E.B. heard a gunshot, and saw Quintero holding his chest area. Quintero told Jimenez, “Help me. Please call the ambulance.” E.B. did not see Jimenez make a telephone call. E.B. heard another gunshot and saw Jimenez was still arguing with Quintero. She saw Quintero returning to his vehicle, followed by Jimenez, who had a revolver in his hand. E.B. shortly afterwards saw Jimenez shoot Quintero, who slumped over in his car, which crashed into another vehicle. The next day, Jimenez told E.B.: “[I]f somebody came looking for [Quintero] or if anything happened, for [her] to come up with a bogus lie—a bogus story about if we seen him [sic] on the property.” E.B. told Jimenez she did not want to get involved in the matter. E.B. testified she was a drug user around the time of the incident, but she had stopped using drugs by the time of trial. An autopsy showed Quintero died from multiple gunshot wounds. In closing arguments, the prosecutor mentioned Quintero’s conduct in driving through the encampment: “A week before the murder, or two weeks—we’re not sure exactly the date that the first incident happened. We know that [E.B. and B.C.] both testified to this earlier incident. We know that there was an argument over [ ] Quintero driving too fast through the neighborhood. [He] did not want to submit to [Jimenez’s] authority. ‘He’s not the boss of me. He can’t tell me what to do.’ [¶] Now, his reaction clearly was not correct. He shouldn’t have done it. Shooting a gun at the ground wasn’t the right choice, but it happened and it provoked [Jimenez’s] anger.

4 [¶] He told not one but two people, ‘I’m going to get him. If you pull a gun out on me, you better kill me and you better use it,’ with the implication being, ‘If you didn’t kill me, I’m going to kill you.’ That is motive and that is also premeditation.” B. Defense Case Jimenez did not present any trial testimony. His counsel stated his theory of the case in closing arguments: “[Jimenez] is not guilty. There is no credible, verifiable, or reliable evidence that he killed Mr. Quintero.” DISCUSSION I. The Court’s Admission of Quintero’s Statement Jimenez contends that during E.B.’s testimony, the court erroneously admitted Quintero’s hearsay statement. He further contends the error violated his Confrontation Clause rights under the Sixth Amendment of the federal Constitution. He contends the error was prejudicial because “[i]t provided a basis for jurors to infer that even before the incident, [he] disliked [Quintero]. Given that the defense was [Jimenez] was not the perpetrator, evidence showing bad relations between the two diminished the defense. It gave reason for the jurors to consider [Jimenez] a likely perpetrator. The prosecution also relied on the statement to prove [Jimenez] had planned the murder. . . . Also, the prosecution did not have an airtight case; its two primary witnesses admitted to drug addiction at the time of the incidents, one testifying she still was using drugs.” A.

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People v. Jimenez CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-jimenez-ca41-calctapp-2025.