P. v. Colquitt
Filed 8/17/06 P. v. Colquitt CA4/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. VIRGIL LEE COLQUITT, Defendant and Appellant. | E038724 (Super.Ct.No. RIF114137) O P I N I O N |
APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Russell F. Schooling, Judge. (Retired judge of the Mun. Ct. for the Southeast Jud. Dist. of L.A., assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6, of the Cal. Const.) Affirmed.
Corinne S. Shulman, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and James H. Flaherty, III, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
A jury convicted appellant Virgil Lee Colquitt of first degree murder (Pen. Code, §187, subd. (a))[1] and found true an allegation that he discharged a firearm causing death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). The trial court sentenced appellant to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life. On appeal, appellant challenges the trial court's ruling denying his motion under People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258 and Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79 (Batson-Wheeler motion).
Statement of Facts
On December 24, 2003, appellant shot and killed Edwin Ezeala in the parking lot of a liquor store in Moreno Valley. At trial, appellant claimed he shot Mr. Ezeala in self defense.
Jury selection for appellant's trial began on March 1, 2005. On the afternoon of that date, the prosecution exercised its first peremptory challenge[2] to excuse juror No. 10, an African-American female who had retired from teaching at the California Youth Authority. At that point, defense counsel stated, â€
