KARAPETYAN
People v. KARAPETYAN
Opinion
Opinion
Nicholson, J.
On September 2, 2003, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Sacramento Police Officer Barry Lee responded to a reported stabbing. Upon arrival, he found the victim Andrey Tsurkanu already dead, with six men surrounding the body. Several days later, defendant Gagik Karapetyan walked into a sheriff’s department substation and confessed to killing Andrey. He was tried and convicted of second degree murder.
Defendant appeals contending the trial court erred: (1) when it instructed the jury that an aider and abettor to assault could be liable for murder if death was a natural and probable consequence of the assault, (2) when it admitted evidence of a prior incident, (3) when it admitted defendant’s statement that he used a knife, and (4) by not instructing the jury on imperfect defense of others. We affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
On September 2, 2003, Andrey Tsurkanu and his cousin Sergey Melnichuk went to Pavel Tveretinov’s auto auction to pick up a friend who worked there. The friend was not there when they arrived, so Andrey and Sergey waited. Defendant, his son-in-law Ararat Manakyan, and Isaak Ambaryan were barbequing in the area. Sergey peeked into defendant’s motor home, which…