People v. Landers CA2/2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

A. The underlying crime In 2007, defendant and his cousin Anthony Vigeant (Vigeant) were United States Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton Marine Base. In August of that year, they befriended Ramon Hernandez (Hernandez), a fellow Marine who told them about the injuries he had received on his second tour of duty in Iraq. His injuries were significant: He had shrapnel inside his brain. He lost his left eye, his sense of smell, his left frontal lobe and part of his right frontal lobe. He suffered nerve damage in his right arm and hand. And his brain injuries affected his thinking, causing him to process information more slowly and diminishing his ability to feel empathy toward others. Soon after meeting Hernandez, defendant and Vigeant told him that they had a problem with a man named David Pettigrew (Pettigrew). They explained that defendant had agreed to buy cocaine from Pettigrew, who had taken Vigeant’s laptop as security for the upcoming deal, and Pettigrew had yet to produce the cocaine or return the laptop. Pettigrew was a total stranger to Hernandez. On the night of September 7, 2007, and early the next morning, Vigeant and…