People v. Martinez-Soto

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THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LLOBAN MARTINEZ-SOTO, Defendant and Appellant.

A168320

California Court of Appeals, First District, Second Division

May 30, 2024

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Sonoma County Super. Ct. No. SCR7437261

Richman, J.

On the afternoon of January 18, 2021, defendant Lloban Martinez-Soto shot and killed Jesus Mendez. Martinez-Soto was subsequently convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to a prison term of 43 years to life. He argues that his conviction must be reversed because the trial court committed prejudicial error in refusing his requested pinpoint instruction that he had the right to use a gun in self-defense even though he was a felon prohibited from possessing firearms and that substantial evidence does not support the jury's finding that he did not act in self-defense. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

On January 18, 2021 at 2:39 p.m., several deputies with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to an address on Casa Grande Road in Petaluma in response to a report of a possible homicide. When they arrived, they found Mendez lying on the ground. Mendez had four gunshot wounds: two on his torso, above his stomach and above his hip, one in his left bicep, and one in the left rear of his shoulder. The bullet that entered Mendez's left bicep fractured his ribs, punctured his aorta, went through his thoracic spine and was recovered from his right lung. The bullet that entered Mendez's left shoulder fractured the cervical vertebral body and lacerated the spinal cord, which bullet was recovered from the right shoulder armpit area. Mendez was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:56 p.m.

Deputies also found a DeWalt folding knife at the scene underneath a nearby vehicle.

On February 8, 2022, the Sonoma County District Attorney filed a first amended information charging Martinez-Soto with the first-degree murder of Mendez (Pen. Code, § 187, subd (a))^[1] (count 1) and being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1)) (count 2). The information further alleged various firearm enhancements as to count one including that Martinez-Soto personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (c), (d)).

Trial took place over approximately 11 days in February and March of 2023.

Gloria Avila testified for the prosecution that she had been dating Martinez-Soto off and on since she was 14 years old. Martinez-Soto "frequently" made accusations that Avila was cheating on him with other men, in particular with Mendez. Avila also dated Mendez for a few months around the summer of 2020. They broke up in September, after Mendez accused her of having sex with Martinez-Soto. About a month later, Avila began dating Martinez-Soto again, until a month before the shooting in December of 2020, when they separated again. Martinez-Soto "many times" told Avila that Mendez made him angry.

In December 2020, Avila was pregnant but subsequently had a miscarriage. She testified that Martinez-Soto "didn't believe I was pregnant with his kid." In late December of 2020, Martinez-Soto sent Avila text messages telling her "that fucking Mendez will get his Santa Claus," that he would "impale" Mendez if he found him, and that "that fucker [Mendez] is gonna get it."

On the night of January 17, 2021, Martinez-Soto and Avila stayed at the Good Nite Inn in Rohnert Park. That night they used methamphetamine which they had been doing for several days, and for "part of the night" were arguing. During the night, the pair and their friend Valentino were driving around and went to Valentino's house to use the restroom. Avila and Valentino went inside, and when they returned, Martinez-Soto was gone.

Avila and Valentino went to Oakland to pick up drugs and eventually returned to the hotel in Rohnert Park. At 4:23 a.m., Martinez-Soto texted Avila "I have the gun." Martinez-Soto eventually returned to the hotel room, accused Avila and Valentino of having sex, and pointed the gun at her. In other text messages that morning, Martinez-Soto accused Avila of "being a slut with half the world," told her "[y]ou're going to pay for it," and threatened to "put lead in that idiot" with respect to another man with whom he believed Avila was having sex.

Around 9:00 a.m. on the morning of January 18, Avila's mother Teresa Saldana and Mendez were smoking methamphetamine in a hotel room. Around 2:00 p.m., Mendez and Teresa returned to her residence, where Mendez began working on a car.

Paulina Saldana, Teresa's niece, lived with Jesus Ramirez in the main house on Teresa's property. Teresa lived in a separate house at the rear of the property. On January 18, Paulina and Ramirez returned home around 1:00 p.m., at which point they saw Martinez-Soto sitting in his car facing the house. Paulina went inside, and Ramirez walked to the rear of the property, passing by Mendez, who was working on a car in the driveway. A few minutes later, Ramirez heard a vehicle pull up the driveway, the car door open, a "little" screaming from Mendez, three or four gun shots, and the car door close. Ramirez went to the front of the property, where he saw Martinez-Soto backing his car out of the driveway.

Ramirez knocked on Paulina's window, and she went to the back of the property, where she saw Mendez lying face up near his car. There was a folding knife with an open blade in Mendez's right hand. Paulina saw that Mendez had been shot in the stomach and called 911 while Ramirez performed CPR. Teresa then came outside, took the knife out of Mendez's hand, and threw it towards the back of the house.

At 2:49 p.m., Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Randy Williams observed a vehicle matching the description of Martinez-Soto's red Saturn driving recklessly. At 2:58 p.m., Deputy Williams located the vehicle parked in an alley. He called for backup and established a perimeter. A SWAT team eventually arrived, and after an almost six-hour standoff during which the SWAT team deployed flashbangs and tear gas, Martinez-Soto finally exited the house and was arrested around 9:51 p.m. He repeatedly told police that he had been sleeping.

Dr. Kimi Verilhac, a forensic pathologist working with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, testified that Mendez's wounds were consistent with his turning away from the shots, and that the shot that entered his left shoulder was consistent with his being shot from behind and to the left.

Martinez-Soto testified in his own defense. According to his testimony, he drove to Teresa's house to try to find Avila and his cell phone. He did not think that Mendez was at the house. As Martinez-Soto was walking up the driveway, Mendez approached him quickly and "said that it was time for me to pay the piper and he was gonna poke me." Mendez had a folding knife in his hand. Martinez-Soto backed up a little bit, drew his gun, and fired four shots at Mendez. Martinez-Soto then got into his car and reversed out of the driveway. He drove to his friend's house in Sonoma and threw the gun in a trash can. Martinez-Soto hid in the house, told the police that he had been sleeping all day, and did not tell the police that he shot Mendez in selfdefense because he "was afraid. And if I had told the police, they wouldn't have believed me. I don't trust-you know, police has never helped me because-and because I was a convicted felon, so I couldn't carry weapons."

On March 21, the jury found Martinez-Soto guilty of second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) (count 1) and possession of a firearm as a felon (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1)) (count 2). The jury also found true the personal firearm use allegations (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (c), (d)). On April 13, a bifurcated court trial on the aggravating circumstances was held, with the prosecution moving to strike all the aggravating circumstances except that "[t]he defendant's prior convictions as an adult or sustained petitions in juvenile delinquency proceedings are numerous or of increasing seriousness," which circumstance the trial court found true. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 421(b)(2).)

On June 15, the trial court sentenced Martinez-Soto to an indeterminate term of 15 years to life on count 1, with an additional consecutive 25 years to life on the firearm use allegation (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)), consecutive to the aggravated three year determinate term on count 2, for a total term of three years plus 40 years to life.

Martinez-Soto filed a notice of appeal.

DISCUSSION

The Trial Court Did Not Err In Refusing the Defense's Proposed Pinpoint Instruction

While discussing the jury instructions, defense counsel requested that the trial court give the following pinpoint instruction "Lloban Martinez-Soto does not forfeit the right to defend himself with a firearm, against imminent deadly force or force likely to produce great bodily injury, even if he was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to previous felony convictions."

The trial court responded:

"So in considering whether or not a pinpoint is appropriate-and I would note the general hesitation to write our own jury instructions in light of how appellate courts receive that. I would point everyone to the language in 2511. This is the Count 2 instruction where there's been a stipulation as to convictions. There is a bracketed portion that the court would read. And this relates to the possession of the firearm by the prohibited person. It's an instruction that tells the jurors do not consider this fact, the fact that he was a felon in possession, for any other purpose. Do not speculate or discuss the nature of the conviction.

"So I do believe what you're asking for is included in this language. If there's any request for...