Garcia

A jury convicted Gilbert Garcia of the February 20, 1995, first degree murder of Simindokht Roshdieh (Simindokht), the attempted murder of her husband, Firooz Roshdieh (Firooz), and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. It found true robbery-murder and burglary-murder special circumstances and allegations Garcia used a firearm in the commission of the murder, attempted murder and gun possession, inflicted great bodily injury during the attempted murder, and had a prior serious or violent felony conviction for assault with a deadly weapon within the meaning of the “Three Strikes” law and for the purposes of Penal Code sections 667, subdivision (a)(1) and 1192.7, subdivision (c). (All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.) The jury fixed the punishment at life in prison without the possibility of parole following a separate penalty trial.

Although the guilt phase record in this case consisted of more than 700 pages of clerk’s transcript, 1,907 pages of reporter’s transcript and over 100 exhibits, Garcia raises a single issue on appeal. He challenges the trial court’s exclusion of one hearsay statement, arguing the…