The People v. Jones CA2/3

BACKGROUND

Viewed in accordance with the usual rule of appellate review (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206), the evidence established the following. 1. The crime scene evidence. Earl Cager testified his family owned Cager Clothing, a store in Palmdale, on Q-6 near a barber shop. One of the store’s employees was Annton Berry. On October 23, 2006, Earl and his mother went to the store to pick up some T-shirts. Berry was the only person working in the store that day. At the rear of the store, Earl saw a body with a plastic trash bag over its head. Earl ran and told his mother, who called 911. Earl testified Berry’s silver Impala had been parked outside the store when they arrived, but by the time they had parked, the Impala was gone. When the police arrived they found Berry’s body. The autopsy showed Berry had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Autopsy photographs showed he had also sustained lacerations, a black eye, and bruising on his arm and knee, suggesting he had been in a fight and had been wrestled to the ground. Berry’s Impala, his wallet and his checkbook were subsequently found at other locations. Police recovered five latent fingerprints from the plastic…