People v. Epps CA6

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History The Santa Clara County District Attorney filed an amended information charging Epps with the murder of Arturo C.2 (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1.) The jury found Epps guilty of first degree murder based on a willful, premeditated, and deliberate killing with express malice or a murder perpetrated by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle intentionally at another person outside of the vehicle with the intent to inflict death. At a sentencing hearing, the trial court denied Epps’s motion for a new trial and sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison. B. Evidence Presented at Trial 1. Prosecution Evidence Epps is the biological father of Kaila M., although she had not met him during most of her childhood. Kaila first became acquainted with Epps through his son Andre when she was 16 years old (in 2017–2018). Kaila later lived with Epps and his family in Yuba City from June 2019 to August 2019, immediately after she graduated from high school. Kaila began selling marijuana while she was in high school, separate from her relationship with Epps. When Kaila lived with Epps in the summer of 2019, she did not

2 We refer to…