People v. Ancira CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Angel Castrejon Ancira appeals a judgment of conviction after a jury found him guilty of the first degree premeditated murder of Monique Briseno

(Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)),1 and found he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon—to wit, a knife—to commit the murder (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). He claims the evidence was insufficient to prove he killed Briseno or acted with the premeditation and deliberation necessary to support a conviction for first degree murder, rather than second degree murder. We conclude there was ample circumstantial evidence to prove Ancira killed Briseno. However, we agree with Ancira there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of premeditation and deliberation. Therefore, we modify the judgment to reduce the first degree murder conviction to a second degree murder conviction and affirm the judgment as modified. We remand the matter to the trial court to resentence Ancira, prepare an amended abstract of judgment, and forward a copy of the amended abstract of judgment to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. II

BACKGROUND

A. The Vehicle Theft On May 4, 2021, Ancira socialized with his cousin for a few…