People v. Myrick CA6

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant Mykal Durrell Myrick was convicted after jury trial of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187).1 The jury further found true the allegation that defendant personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, in the commission of the offense (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). The trial court sentenced defendant to 15 years to life for the murder plus one year for the personal use allegation. On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion and denied him due process when it admitted evidence of a prior grand theft that he had committed. For reasons that we will explain, we will affirm the conviction.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged by information with the murder of Salvador Pena. (§ 187.) The information further alleged that defendant personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, during the commission of the murder (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)), and that the murder was committed while defendant was engaged in the commission and attempted commission of robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)). Prior to trial, defendant filed a…