Waxlax

FACTS

A. Prosecution’s Case

According to Kimbler, he and Waxlax had been friends for several years, but their

friendship ended when he started dating Waxlax’s ex-fiancé, Shea, about a week after

their breakup. When they were friends, Kimbler loaned Waxlax about $1,500, which he

never repaid. At trial, Kimbler told the jury he didn’t really care about the money because

he never expected Waxlax to pay him back.

On March 27, 2015, Kimbler and Shea were celebrating his birthday with some

friends at the Red Barn, a bar in Palm Desert. Waxlax also happened to be at the bar that

evening but was playing pool with a different group. Kimbler had several drinks over the

course of the night and was quite drunk when the bartender announced last call around

1:45 a.m.

As Kimbler was leaving with Shea and his friend, Contreras, they spotted Waxlax

sitting in his car in the corner of the parking lot. Earlier in the evening, Kimbler had

pointed Waxlax out to Contreras as the guy who used to date Shea, so Contreras decided

he wanted to talk to Waxlax. He approached the driver’s side window of Waxlax’s car

3 and complimented his stereo system. Leaning onto the driver’s side door and…