People v. Custer CA3

BACKGROUND

In April 2017, defendant and Manuel Anthony Penna had been close friends for several years, and defendant knew Penna as a family friend of more than 20 years. The two socialized often, and worked on cars together, sometimes at defendant’s home. Defendant’s home was on Lerwick Road, though at the time of the shooting, defendant was staying with his friend and neighbor, Dustin Brown, on Lerwick Road. Penna often stayed at his mother’s house also on Lerwick Road, about 11 houses away. In early April 2017, Penna traded a firearm for Brown’s car, a Mustang. Penna remarked to Brown that he felt “naked” without the gun he traded, and Brown replied that he would give Penna the chance to buy the “next gun” that Brown obtained. Later, defendant showed a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson gun to Penna, who expressed interest in it. But because Penna didn’t have enough money to buy the gun directly from Brown, Brown and defendant “worked it out” so that defendant obtained

2 the gun from Brown, and then gave it to Penna in exchange for $200 and various items, including a signed San Francisco 49ers football. Four or five days later, Penna learned that defendant “need[ed] the gun back.”…