People v. Jimenez Alejandre CA1/5

BACKGROUND

A.

Jimenez admitted that he killed the victim, David Nunez Sanchez, in a fight, so a main issue at trial concerned whether the killing was willful, deliberate, and premeditated as required for a first-degree murder conviction (Pen. Code, § 189, subd. (a)).1 The two men worked as gardeners, and Sanchez was Jimenez’s supervisor. Before the killing, Sanchez had raised concerns about Jimenez’s work performance and told him he had to put in more

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 effort. Jimenez testified that, on the day of the murder, while the two were working outdoors at an apartment complex, Sanchez attacked him with large gardening shears. Jimenez got his pocketknife out of his pocket and cut Sanchez with the knife. Jimenez testified that “[e]verything went very fast.”

Police later discovered Sanchez’s body at the apartment complex, under a pile of branches. In addition, police recovered (from Jimenez’s home) the shirt Jimenez had worn that day, which had blood on the sleeves.

The forensic pathologist, Dr. Joseph I. Cohen, performed an autopsy on Sanchez. After being designated an expert, Dr. Cohen testified that Sanchez had died of “…