P. v. Songcuan
Filed 8/2/06 P. v. Songcuan CA6
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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
SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. WILFRED FRAGATA SONGCUAN, Defendant and Appellant. | H029087 (Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. CC464183) |
Defendant Wilfred Fragata Songcuan, convicted at jury trial of assault with a deadly weapon, a beer bottle (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)),[1] with the finding that he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, claims on appeal that instructional error rendered his trial unfair in violation of his federal due process rights.
FACTS
The basic events of July 24, 2004, are undisputed; where recollections differ, they are attributed to the respective witnesses. At around 9 o'clock that evening, about 1000 people were at the Santa Clara Westin Hotel Convention Center attending a formal dinner-dance held in connection with a worldwide reunion of former residents of the Philippine town of Cabugao. Defendant, 58, was present with his wife, Virginia, a Cabugaoan. Defendant was from San Nicolas in the Pangasinan Province. Other Cabugaoans present who were connected to Virginia's family and whom defendant knew were her cousin Ely Quileza, 57, Quileza's relative Salvador Azcueta, 68, and Azcueta's cousin's son, Romulo Naval, 57, who went to school with Virginia, and who was a 25-year resident of the United States.
Defendant dropped his wife at the hotel around 4:00 or 4:30 p.m. and then returned about 9:15 or 9:30 p.m. He had a drink of brandy, ate dinner, had another brandy, and before the program started, started to socialize. He saw Quileza's wife, Esther, who asked him to find her husband. Police had telephoned her at home to ask her to pick up Quileza outside the hotel because he was drunk and being arrested. Defendant found Quileza in a central hallway outside the ballroom. The hallway had doors to the outside and to the Convention Center and there were a number of other guests and about three police officers there. Quileza was drunk and â€
