People v. Najdawi CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

A. Murder of Jack Chu At some time prior to the killing, defendant purchased a .40 caliber Glock handgun in Reno, Nevada. Defendant had put a laser sight on the gun to help him aim. Defendant acted like a tough guy and carried the gun around with him all of the time. Defendant was a braggart, who made grandiose statements about himself. He claimed he was a bounty hunter even though his friends knew he was not. Defendant also claimed that someone was trying to kill him. Defendant, however, was never able to articulate what prompted him to think that someone was trying to kill him. Nevertheless, he consistently claimed that someone was trying to kill him regardless of whether he was under the influence of drugs/alcohol or sober. People close to defendant believed he was paranoid. On July 7, 2008, defendant went out drinking in San Francisco with his best friend, Jack Chu. A mutual friend, Gray Byun, met up with the men at The Bottom’s Up bar, where they drank together for about an hour and a half. Defendant used his brother’s credit card to buy drinks for the group and laughed about using the card without his permission. Byun could see that defendant was carrying a…