The People v. Sanchez CA3

FACTS

Prosecution Case-in-Chief John Zuber is a correctional sergeant at California State Prison Sacramento. On July 14, 2010, he was a yard sergeant at the prison’s C facility. Around 11:40 a.m., Zuber saw two inmates engaged in an altercation. One of the inmates (later identified as defendant) was hitting the other (later identified as inmate Jorge Barrera) in the upper torso area using a stabbing or striking motion. Sergeant Zuber yelled for the inmates to “get down” and, on his radio, he announced the incident to the observation tower. The two fighting inmates obeyed the command. During the incident, Sergeant Zuber saw a weapon being used and saw a blue object in defendant’s hand. Zuber went to the site of the incident and stepped on the weapon, which was about three feet from defendant, in order to assure that no other inmate could grab it. Zuber later gave the weapon to Officer Lewis. The weapon looked like a toothbrush with its bristles broken off. The object was sharpened at one end. The victim, Barrera, had injuries to his back, chest, and the right rear of his head. The chest injury included an abrasion, a scratch, and active bleeding. The head injury consisted of a…