People v. Reed CA3

BACKGROUND

We take the basic facts of defendant’s case from our opinion in his original appeal. (People v. Reed (Mar. 18, 2015, C071276) [nonpub. opn.] (Reed).)2 On September 2, 2010, defendant and Kelvin Arnell Peterson robbed a pharmacy that Peterson had robbed by himself three weeks prior. Peterson handed a note to a pharmacy technician reading “We want all 800 Oxycontin. We will kill you.” As the technician went to the back, the owner of the store activated the silent alarm while defendant took cash from one of the registers. When the owner handed Peterson the store’s supply of Oxycontin, Peterson pointed a gun at the owner’s head and said, “I want more.” The owner’s son, who also worked at the pharmacy, feared for his father’s life and pulled out a gun but it failed to fire. After retreating to the back of the store, the son was able to fire at Peterson and a gun fight ensued. Tania Gurskiy, a pharmacy clerk, was shot in the head and died as a result, and another employee was shot in the foot. Defendant was arrested a week later at a Reno motel. (Reed, at pp. 4-6.) The jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and robbery (§ 211), found true the…