People v. Castro CA2/3

BACKGROUND

Viewed in accordance with the usual rules of appellate review (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206), the evidence established the following. 1. Prosecution Evidence. a. The theft of the gun. In 2014, Matthew Brown was living in a two-bedroom residence in Lawndale with his fiancé and her mother, Olga Revilla. Brown and his fiancé occupied one bedroom and Revilla occupied the other. At the time, Brown owned a semi-automatic handgun which he kept on his nightstand next to a loaded magazine. There were bullets in the magazine, but the magazine was not loaded into the gun. On June 25, 2014, Revilla made a report to the Sheriff’s Department that Brown’s gun had been stolen. Deputy Sheriff Matt Bengston spoke to Brown, who was in San Diego, about the gun by telephone. Brown said he had not given Castro or any other individual permission to take his gun. b. The confrontation between Castro and Patricia over the gun. In August 2014, Castro was 22 years old and living in a house in Lawndale with his mother and his sister, Yanet. On August 3, 2014, Castro’s mother was out of town and his oldest sister, Patricia, was visiting the house with her husband, Rafeal, and their…