People v. Garcia CA5

INTRODUCTION

A jury found appellant Daniel Razo Garcia guilty of first degree murder for the 2018 shooting death of Raul Quintana (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a);1 count 1). The jury found true that Quintana’s murder was committed while appellant was engaged in the commission of a robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A)), and it also found true that appellant intentionally and personally discharged a firearm that caused Quintana’s death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). Based on the true finding of the robbery-murder allegation, the trial court imposed a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP).2 In light of the LWOP sentence, the court elected to strike the firearm enhancement. Appellant argues the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to dismiss a juror for alleged good cause. He also contends both his first degree murder verdict and the robbery-murder special circumstance finding must be reversed for insufficient evidence. Finally, he asserts evidentiary error occurred when the court permitted admission of some of his social media messages. We reject these claims and affirm.

BACKGROUND

This homicide occurred in the evening of January 28, 2018, in an…