People v. Mulato CA4/3

FACTS

In August of 2021, Mulato’s girlfriend telephoned the wife of the victim, who was her cousin, to complain that the victim had said disparaging things about her to Mulato. The victim denied saying such things; the issue escalated as Mulato and the victim—who had been acquainted since childhood— exchanged hostile calls and messages. Mulato told the victim that he wanted to meet him “in the desert,” and he was going to “put [him] six feet under.” The two men decided to meet at the park near the victim’s home. Despite Mulato’s threat, the victim did not expect anything more than a fist fight, so the victim went to the park unarmed. As the victim arrived at the park, Mulato was pulling up in a gray van. Mulato exited the van on the passenger side; he had a gun in his hand. Mulato first pointed it at the victim; he then pointed it downward and shot it at the victim’s feet. After firing the first shot, Mulato asked the victim, “what [are you] going to do now?” The victim tried to de-escalate the situation as he said, “we can fix things by just a regular fist fight and leave the gun.” Mulato replied he was going to “kill [the victim] right there and then,” and pointed the gun at…