People v. Lonnberg CA6

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

A jury convicted defendant Stacy Christine Lonnberg of two counts of second degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187/189) and one count of child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced her to a prison term of 30 years to life concurrent to two years. Defendant now appeals from the judgment of conviction. She makes the following arguments on appeal: 1) the trial court erred in refusing to give a pinpoint instruction regarding implied malice; 2) the trial court erred in refusing to admit the testimony of a defense expert; 3) trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to object to an item of testimony and in eliciting an item of evidence; 4) the trial court erred in admitting a photograph of one victim’s body; and 5) the prosecutor committed misconduct in cross-examining a defense expert. As set forth below, we find no merit in defendant’s claims. We therefore will affirm the judgment of conviction.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

The Traffic Accident At approximately 3:45 p.m. on January 14, 2012, defendant was driving her pickup truck on Highway 85. There were three passengers in defendant’s truck: her infant grandson, Ethan…