People v. Carranza CA4/3

FACTS

After 21 years of marriage, appellant and Maria Espinoza separated in October 2010. The separation was Espinoza’s idea, and appellant was not happy about it. After Espinoza agreed to meet with him in late 2010, he implored her to give him another chance. When Espinoza said no, he showed her a gun and told her he had planned on killing her earlier that day while she was leaving work. Appellant told Espinoza their adult son Martin had talked him out of it. He also told her that if she went forward with the divorce, he was not going to accept it. Espinoza did not waver, and their divorce became final in January 2011. Afterward, Espinoza often noticed appellant following her in his car. One time while she was driving home from work, appellant passed her on the freeway. As he went by, he held up his fingers in the shape of a gun, which frightened Espinoza. In April 2011, appellant and Martin were at Espinoza’s house working on appellant’s car. Espinoza was not there at the time and had not given appellant permission to be at her home. However, appellant went into her house, forcibly entered her locked bedroom, and stole a personal item from her closet. Later that night,…