People v. Dixon CA1/1

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

On the morning of September 16, 2023, the power went out at the Silverado Trail home of 61-year-old J.B. and his wife.1 When J.B. went outside to investigate the power outage, he saw a man, later identified as Dixon, standing next to the electrical panel. Dixon was holding “a large knife” with the blade pointed at J.B. J.B. asked what Dixon was doing, and Dixon “lunged towards him with the knife.” During the ensuing struggle, Dixon stabbed J.B. in the back, causing “a stab wound approximately 2 to 3 inches in length . . . on his lower back” that required stitches. J.B. pulled the knife out of his own back and stabbed Dixon. Dixon started to run away, and J.B. “tackled him.” J.B. yelled for his wife to call 911, and he was able to detain Dixon until law enforcement arrived. While J.B. was holding Dixon, Dixon asked whether J.B. was “with the KKK” and was “talking [g]ibberish.” A few minutes before the power went out, the home’s surveillance cameras had recorded a man walk into the home’s patio and then toward the outdoor electrical panel. Later investigation revealed that the panel’s switches were all “turned in the off position,” a window…