People v. Simms CA3

I. Statement of Facts

We take the facts from our prior opinion. (People v. Simms (Feb. 9, 1996, C017594) [nonpub. opn.] (Simms).) Defendant and codefendant Damian Mitchell were convicted of the murder of Ruben Johns. Johns and defendant were involved in an ongoing dispute. As the dispute continued, defendant paged codefendant Mitchell and entered the codes “911” and “187,” for emergency and murder respectively. Defendant took a 12-gauge shotgun from the trunk of his car and waited for Mitchell to arrive. He pumped and primed the weapon making sure it was loaded. When Mitchell arrived, he asked, “ ‘who’s [Johns]?’ ” Defendant and Johns began arguing again, and that arguing escalated into a physical altercation. Johns stabbed defendant in the chest and defendant dropped the shotgun. Mitchell picked up the shotgun and pointed it at Johns. As Johns backed away with his hands up, defendant told Johns to “ ‘kiss his momma good-bye.’ ” Mitchell fired once, striking Johns in the upper chest and neck. Johns died at the scene. Defendants claimed the shooting was in self-defense. Defendant claimed he only brought the weapon to the fight because he heard Johns was seen passing a gun around.…