People v. Davenport CA3

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Defendant lived with the victim, his 68-year-old grandmother. One day, the victim went to a casino, where she encountered defendant, who was intoxicated and yelled at her. She returned home, where defendant again confronted her, angry that she had gone to the casino because she had earlier declined to take him to the recycling center. He screamed in her face, saying “he hated her” and demanding to be called “Stefanos.” Defendant punched the victim in the face. She tried to use her cell phone to call for help, but defendant knocked the cell phone to the floor. He then lit a roll of paper towels on fire and threw it at the victim; she brushed the burning embers off her chest and extinguished them on the ground with her cane. The victim yelled for her sister, who was outside, to call the sheriff’s department. Defendant then poked the victim in the back, pretending that he had a gun and threatening to kill her. He got a knife and made stabbing motions at her chest, then put the knife against her throat while screaming, “before suddenly dropping the knife and falling to the floor, as if he passed out.” “[M]oments later,” defendant woke up and got…