People v. Oliver CA5

I. Background

Defendant and his wife Sylvia Oliver3 met in 1987. They got married about a year later and were together ever since. Defendant and Sylvia regularly drank alcohol. Sylvia had cirrhosis of the liver. Once at a wedding in 2014, a relative saw defendant brandish a knife at Sylvia and threaten her with it in an angry manner. The knife was bigger than a pocketknife; defendant pulled it from the area of his waist. Sylvia put both of her hands up when she saw the knife. I.A. is Sylvia’s son from a previous relationship. He was eight years old when defendant married Sylvia. M.O. is defendant’s daughter from a previous relationship. M.O. witnessed defendant and Sylvia fight and argue on several occasions. Defendant told M.O. in the past that he wanted to “hit” Sylvia. On another occasion, defendant threatened to hold his grandson’s head underwater while he was swimming. Thereafter, M.O. asked defendant to leave her house. Defendant kept a loaded .22-caliber rifle in his bedroom corner.

II. The Night of the Shooting

On November 17, 2016,4 Sylvia and defendant had recently returned from a 10- day vacation visiting Sylvia’s family in Texas. That evening, I.A. called…