Covarrubias

A jury convicted defendant and appellant Juan Antonio Covarrubias of second degree implied malice murder (Pen. Code, § 187). The court sentenced Covarrubias to prison for 15 years to life.

Covarrubias appeals, contending the court prejudicially erred when it refused to exclude certain portions of the testimony of two employees of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Each of the MADD employees testified about various administrative matters pertaining to MADD, including victim impact panels, and, as relevant to this appeal, their own personal stories of tragedy related to drunk driving accidents (hereafter personal-tragedy testimony). Covarrubias alternatively contends the court erred by instructing the jury with CALCRIM No. 224, Circumstantial Evidence: Sufficiency of Evidence, instead of CALCRIM No. 225, Circumstantial Evidence: Intent or Mental State.

We conclude the court erred when it found the personal-tragedy testimony relevant under Evidence Code section 350 and when it found under section 352 that such testimony was not substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. However, on this record, we further conclude this error was harmless. Finally, we conclude…