People v. Torres CA2/2
Opinion
Opinion
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
I. Facts
In early November 2013, defendant went to a bar with four friends to watch an Oakland Raiders football game. When the game ended, they all went to an apartment to continue drinking. As they were hanging out in an alleyway behind the apartment, an African-American man walked by, displayed gang signs, and yelled racial slurs including “Fuck Mexicans,” “Fuck Donkeys” and “Border Hoppers.” Defendant got angry, and he and another member of the group gave chase. Defendant was the faster runner and jumped someone. It was not the same person who had insulted the group, and the man pleaded with defendant, “Why me?” With the screwdriver defendant had been using to open beer cans, defendant stabbed the man three times with a “tremendous amount of force”—once through his rib, lung and heart; a second time through his lung; and a third time in his back, burying the five- or six-inch screwdriver blade to its handle. The man died. After the stabbing, defendant told other members of the group that he “lost it” and told his girlfriend that he “picked” the guy with a “screwdriver.” He also cut his long hair to avoid apprehension.