People v. Moran CA1/2

BACKGROUND

The Evidence at Trial Defendant and Jacqueline began dating in January 2016, and their daughter was born in November of that year. They stopped dating at some point before the shooting in this case on June 9, 2018. Jacqueline testified she suffered abuse at the hands of defendant throughout their relationship. She recounted three separate incidents from 2017. In the first incident, she and defendant got into an argument, during which he grabbed a rifle and pointed it at her head from about ten feet away. In the second incident, defendant cut her with a knife after they got into an argument. As for the third incident, Jaqueline was dropping off defendant’s sister at her residence after they had been hanging out. Defendant, who was at the residence, had been drinking and was upset that Jacqueline was late in dropping off his sister. He went inside Jacqueline’s car, and she started driving them towards her parents’ house. Defendant then started hitting her on her head and body. At some point later, defendant took over the driver’s seat and drove to an orchard. Both got out of the car, and defendant began punching and kicking Jacqueline. She tried to run away, but…