People v. Farfan CA2/2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts2

Kamell Heno was a delivery driver for a company that bought and sold cigarettes. On the morning of December 4, 2014, Heno drove a large truck to pick up $217,000 worth of cigarettes, which he was scheduled to take to a store in La Verne. He never made it to that store. That afternoon, Heno’s truck was found parked on South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. It contained about 10 percent of the cigarettes he had picked up that morning. Heno was found dead on the floor of the truck with a red stained cloth over his head and his face wrapped in duct tape that covered his eyes and mouth, touching the bottom of his nose. He had two projectile head wounds from a BB gun and multiple abrasions, lacerations, and bruises on his head, neck, and upper extremities. An autopsy showed that the cause of death was asphyxiation. Before December 4, appellant, his wife, and his brother Edgar Farfan (Edgar) planned to rob a delivery truck of its cargo

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 The facts are drawn from two prior appellate opinions in this case—the 2018 opinion affirming appellant’s conviction (People v. Farfan (Feb. 8, 2018,…