People v. Ellebracht CA6

I. INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted defendant Christopher Charles Ellebracht of one count of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187).1 The trial court sentenced defendant to prison for 25 years to life. Defendant raises two arguments on appeal. First, he argues that the trial court violated his state and federal constitutional rights to waive representation by counsel when it denied his request to represent himself. Second, he contends that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury concerning the relevance of evidence regarding defendant’s voluntary intoxication, requiring reversal of the judgment. For the reasons discussed below, we will affirm the judgment.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.

II. BACKGROUND

On January 18, 2017, family members of Gin-Lu “Tommy” Shwe called 911 after Shwe failed to show up for a work appointment and a family event. In the following days, a van registered to defendant was found in a remote area near Sequoia National Park and Three Rivers, and Shwe’s body was then located close to where defendant’s van had been found. Defendant worked as a general contractor and performed jobs for which Shwe, a…