California Court of Appeal

Convictions for first degree murder are affirmed over claims of error that: 1) there was no substantial evidence co-defendant aided and abetted a premeditated murder; 2) the court prejudicially erred by admitting irrelevant, inflammatory, and cumulative gang evidence; 3) co-defendant was denied due process of law by being jointly tried with other co-defendant; 4) the court prejudicially erred by admitting evidence concerning co-defendant's arrest following a SWAT stand-off; 5) the admission of two notes written by a cellmate to prove co-defendant attempted to intimidate witnesses violated the rules of evidence and his rights under the Sixth Amendment confrontation clause; 6) the cumulative impact of the trial errors deprived co-defendant of his Fourteenth Amendment due process right to a fair trial; 7) a clerical error in the abstract of judgment should have been corrected; 8) the denial of co-defendant's motion to sever his case from other co-defendant's case deprived him of a fair trial; 9) the admission of gang evidence and the notes written by co-defendant's cellmate deprived him of a fair trial; and 10) co-defendant was prejudiced by the admission of autopsy photographs of the victim.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/14/2008
• Published 11/14/2008

Judges

• O'ROURKE, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Doris M. Frizzell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Geraldo Ojito., Kerry L. Steigerwalt, San Diego, for Defendant and Appellant Pedro Alexander Zepeda Garcia., Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillett, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorneys General, Gil Gonzalez, Lynne McGinnis, and Garrett Beaumont, Deputy Attorneys General for Plaintiff and Respondent.