People v. Horsley CA5

INTRODUCTION

On November 3, 2016,1 defendant Allen Ray Horsley engaged in a verbal altercation with Dustin Montgomery before shooting him in the head and killing him. A jury convicted defendant of murder and assault with a firearm and found true allegations that defendant intentionally used and discharged a firearm. The trial court sentenced defendant to a total term of 50 years to life in prison. Defendant contends on appeal that (1) the trial court erred by instructing the jury as to self-defense relating to the murder charge and not the assault charge; (2) the trial court erred in responding to the jury’s question regarding the definition and effect of provocation in their consideration of the murder charge; (3) trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the prosecutor’s closing argument that compared premeditation and deliberation to a baseball player’s decision to swing at a ball and a driver’s decision not to stop at a yellow traffic light; (4) trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the trial court’s imposition of fines, fees, and assessments without considering defendant’s ability to pay; and (5) the trial court erred in calculating defendant’s…