People v. Kistler CA1/4

BACKGROUND

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on April 3, 2017, witness Sunrise MacDonald was sitting in a parked truck next to Arcata Plaza when she saw a man wearing a bandana approach a man later determined to be victim Thomas Holloway, pull a hammer from his waistband, and strike Holloway twice in the head. The assailant then ran away. MacDonald later identified Kistler as the assailant from a photo lineup. Witness Jasmine Oakeshott was having a cigarette outside a Plaza bar when she saw a masked man hitting another with a hammer. She could not hear what was being said and was unable to identify Kistler as the attacker. Ami Mour testified for the defense. Mour knew both Kistler and Holloway from growing up in the area. On the incident date, Mour had taken his two-year-old daughter to the Arcata Plaza to “burn off some steam.” There he saw Holloway walking around the Plaza with a ball-peen hammer and drinking with a group of people. Around 4:30 p.m., Holloway left the group, was out of sight for less than 10 minutes, and returned with two gentlemen. Kistler was also in the Plaza crowd, five to seven feet from Holloway. After several minutes, Mour heard Holloway say, “You’re not going…