People v. Bulahan CA3

BACKGROUND

The Killing Around 12:42 a.m. on May 19, 2004, police found the dead body of Thyotis Jackson lying face down on the sidewalk of First Avenue in the Oak Park area of

Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 Sacramento, about a block from the Bonfare Market. Jackson was wearing women’s jeans, he had a hair tie on his wrist, and a long-haired women’s wig was near his foot. Jackson’s T-shirt was pulled over his head, exposing his back. He had stab wounds to the chest and a laceration on his neck. The pathologist determined that the wound to the neck was consistent with an injury inflicted by a razor or scalpel but did not contribute to Jackson’s death. Death was caused by the stab wounds to the chest. The stab wounds were also inflicted by a sharp- edged instrument, but unlike the neck wound, they were deeper than they were long. One stab wound, which was potentially fatal, went through the chest wall and struck his right lung. The other stab wound struck Jackson’s heart. Jackson had abrasions on his head, arm, legs, and back. These were not defensive wounds. The abrasions were consistent with rolling around during a physical altercation or with…