People v. Houston CA2/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Houston shoots and kills his wife Donna On November 25, 1985, Houston went to his wife’s workplace in Monterey Park.2 He took with him a 12-gauge shotgun he’d bought the day before. (Houston I.) Around 9:00 a.m. that morning, Steven Price, a coworker of Houston’s wife Donna Johnson, had gone out the rear door of the office. He was waiting for Johnson to come out; the two were going to transport copiers that had been loaded into a van. Seconds later Price heard Johnson yell, “ ‘No, no.’ ” Price then heard “ ‘a huge explosive sound’ ” and Johnson, who had gone

References to statutes are to the Penal Code. Effective June 30, 2022, former section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6 with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) We refer to the factual background from Houston’s trial only “for background purposes and to provide context for the parties’ arguments.” (People v. Flores (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 974, 978, fn. 2.) On September 13, 2023, Houston filed a request to augment the record on appeal with the reporter’s transcripts, jury instructions, and verdict forms from his trial. We treated Houston’s request to augment as a…