People v. Rosales CA5

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Jose Luis Gutierrez Rosales was arrested for bludgeoning his coworker to death with a metal pipe in 2022 and charged with first degree murder with a sentence enhancement for personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a)/189, subd. (a), 12022, subd. (b)(1).)1 The jury rejected the prosecution’s theory that the murder was willful, deliberate and premeditated, but convicted defendant of the lesser included offense of second degree murder and found the weapon enhancement allegation true. The trial court sentenced defendant to 15 years to life with an additional one year for the weapon enhancement. On appeal, defendant’s sole claim is that the trial court abused its discretion when it discharged Juror No. 4 during deliberations, violating his state and federal rights, and entitling him to reversal of his conviction. The People dispute there was any error. Given that Juror No. 4’s failure to deliberate does not “‘appear in the record as a demonstrable reality,’” we find the trial court abused its discretion when it found good cause to discharge her under section 1089. (People v. Armstrong (2016) 1 Cal.5th 432, 450 (Armstrong).)…