P. v. Johnson
Filed 5/3/06 P. v. Johnson CA2/8
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION EIGHT
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. SAMUEL ANTOINE JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant. | B179251 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA050755 |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Stephanie Sautner, Judge. Affirmed.
John Hardesty, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Ana R. Duarte and Karen Bissonnette, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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Samuel Antoine Johnson appeals his conviction for attempted murder and felon in possession of a firearm. His sentence of 37 years in prison includes criminal street gang and firearms discharge enhancements. He contends that (1) the prosecutor used peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory fashion during jury selection, and (2) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, because his trial counsel failed to make a timely objection to expert testimony on the meaning of one of his tattoos. We reject appellant's contentions, and affirm.
FACTS
A. The Crime
Around 1:30 p.m. on November 21, 2003, appellant shot Demarco Scott in front of a church at Pico Boulevard and 17th Street in Santa Monica. The bullet grazed Demarco's arm, causing a flesh wound.
Demarco and his brother Sean were at the church for the funeral of their uncle. Neither one belonged to a gang. They knew appellant because they had gone to the same schools while growing up in Santa Monica. Appellant was a member of the Graveyard Crips street gang, which claimed the area as its territory. One year earlier, Sean was convicted of selling drugs in that area. About a month earlier, appellant tried to convince Sean to join the gang. Sean told appellant that he â€