People v. Lubkin CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

In July 2022, Lubkin was charged by amended felony information with murder (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1) and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle (§ 246; count 2), with a firearm enhancement (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)) alleged as to each count.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 A. Jury Trial We summarize only the facts necessary to provide an understanding of the offenses. Because Lubkin admitted that he shot Garcia, much of the evidence presented at trial is irrelevant to the issues raised on appeal. 1. Prosecution Case In September 2019, Garcia was shot in his car in the parking lot of the Petaluma Outlets. He died at the scene and his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest. The police investigation revealed that shortly before his death, Garcia had listed three items for sale on Craigslist, including two gold chain necklaces. On the day he was killed, a text chain between Garcia and an unknown number demonstrated that Garcia arranged to meet with someone who wanted to buy one of the necklaces. They agreed to meet at the Petaluma Outlets that night at 7:30 p.m. The unknown number was registered to TextMe, an app which allows users…