People v. Collins CA2/3

BACKGROUND

I. The evidence at Collins’s trial for murder

The factual background is from the Court of Appeal opinion affirming the judgment of conviction against Collins on direct appeal, People v. Collins (Aug. 24, 2017, B262755) [nonpub. opn.]. “A. Gas Station Shootings “On July 5, 2010, at about 3:30 a.m., Keith Campbell pulled his BMW into a gas station at the intersection of Western and Vernon Avenues. Campbell’s cousin Chad Andrew was riding in the front passenger seat. Campbell got out of the car and walked to the station’s cashier window, while Andrew remained seated in the BMW.

2 “As Campbell walked to the cashier window, he noticed two men approaching him; they were wearing red and had what Campbell called a ‘vicious attitude.’ The men asked Campbell, ‘Where you from?’ and he did not respond. Instead, Campbell turned around and ran back to his car, yelling for Andrew to get out of the car and run away. “Campbell entered the back seat of the BMW as Andrew tried to leave the car. As this occurred, the two men in red began shooting. Campbell was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the shoulder. Andrew, who had managed to exit the car, was shot several times and…