People v. Sunny CA4/2

FACTS

A. Prosecution’s Case

Sunny and the victim, Erica, began dating in 2003 when they were in high school.

They had their first child (a son) two years later. Though their relationship was rocky and

he was having an affair with a woman named Gina, they married in 2007, in the wake of

promises to remain faithful. Their daughter was born later that year.

But the relationship problems didn’t subside on their exchange of vows. At trial,

Erica told the jury that Sunny had abandoned her once at a Walmart parking lot, taking

the children with him and refusing to tell her where he went. They lived separately after

that—Sunny at his house in Victorville and Erica with her parents—and he would let her

visit with the children. A few months into this arrangement, Erica met Sunny at a

Starbucks to discuss their relationship. They had just gotten their drinks and were in his

car when he asked her to go back inside for napkins. When Erica returned she noticed the

whipped cream topping on her drink had been mixed in, and she asked Sunny if he’d

done something to her drink. (He used to tell her how easy it would be to poison a

person’s drink with antifreeze.) He told her she…