People v. Joseph CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

A. Trial Following a juvenile court determination that defendant was not fit for a juvenile court disposition, the Los Angeles County District Attorney charged defendant with Cook’s murder in a court of criminal jurisdiction. Cook’s friend, Shage Miller (Miller), testified that he, Cook, and another friend were smoking

1 We granted defendant’s motion for judicial notice of our unpublished opinion in his direct appeal (Evid. Code, §§ 451, subd. (a), 452, subd. (d), 459, subd. (a)), and we draw on that opinion in reciting the pertinent background facts.

2 marijuana in Cook’s parked BMW on the day of the murder. 2 They saw defendant leaning against a van parked further up the street. Cook drove up to him and asked, “What’s up?” There was a brief “stare-down,” and Cook drove away. Later the same day, Miller and Cook sat in Cook’s BMW in the parking lot outside a Baskin Robbins waiting for another friend. Miller was in the front passenger seat. About two minutes after they parked, Miller saw defendant “walking, slightly jogging up to the car.” Defendant said “what’s up now” before firing six shots. Cook was hit once in the neck and three times in the head. Defendant…