Hill

I. INTRODUCTION

The crimes alleged in this matter arose out of a custody dispute between estranged spouses Rosa Hill and Eric Hill. Appellants Rosa Hill and her mother, Mei Li, appeal from the judgment following their conviction by a jury of the first-degree murder of Selma Hill (Eric Hill’s grandmother) and the attempted premeditated murder of Eric Hill. Mei Li was also convicted of first-degree burglary of Selma Hill’s residence.1 On appeal, Mei Li raises several claims of instructional error. Rosa Hill argues the trial court erred in admitting her pretrial statement and failing to answer a question from the jury during deliberations. She also raises claims of prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel. Both appellants argue the evidence was insufficient to support the attempted murder conviction and cumulative error. Each appellant joins in

1 A third co-defendant, Ping Li (Rosa Hill’s father and Mei Li’s husband), was also charged in this matter. His case was severed from the trial of the other two defendants. In her opening brief, Rosa Hill states that he pled guilty to violations of Penal Code sections 32 and 459, and was sentenced to four years…