People v. Hall CA4/2

I. BACKGROUND

The prosecution claimed that, shortly after 6:30 a.m. on June 7, 2007, defendant

forcibly drowned his wife Cristi in the family’s backyard spa. The defense claimed that

Cristi accidentally drowned after hitting her head on the edge of the spa.

A. Prosecution’s Case-in-chief

On June 7, 2007, Lindsay Patterson was on leave from the Navy and staying with

her mother, Sharon Lopez, in Lopez’s house in Calimesa. The backyard of Lopez’s

house abutted the backyard of the house where defendant, his wife Cristi, and their eldest

daughter Courtney lived. The yards were separated by a common wall. Before June 7,

neither Patterson nor Lopez had ever had any contact with the Halls. The Halls had lived

in their house since 2004.

On June 7, defendant and Cristi were having their master and guest bathrooms

remodeled and combined into one larger bathroom. The contractor had removed the

showers and tubs, and on the morning of June 7 the Halls and Courtney were planning to

bathe outside in the family spa. The contractor was scheduled to arrive around 6:45 a.m.

Cristi came to Courtney’s room sometime between 6:00 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. to

wake her. Cristi was in her…