People v. Miller

Defendant and appellant Jarrod Joseph Miller (defendant) was convicted of first degree murder and residential burglary with firearm enhancements. Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in precluding the defense expert psychologist from disclosing statements by defendant that appear in the report of another psychologist, which the expert relied upon in reaching his opinion that defendant has paranoid schizophrenia. In the published portion of this decision, we reject this argument. In the unpublished portion of this decision, we reject defendant’s contentions the trial court erred in its instructions regarding imperfect self-defense and in permitting a member of the jail’s mental health staff to testify as an expert at trial. We affirm the judgment below.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In November 2011, the Sonoma County District Attorney filed an information charging defendant with first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); count one) and residential burglary (Pen. Code, § 459; count two). The information alleged in connection with count one that defendant intentionally discharged a firearm causing death (Pen. Code, § 12022.53, subd. (d)) and in…