P. v. Pina
A jury convicted Jose Alfredo Pina of first degree murder (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a).) and found true allegations that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm proximately causing death. ( 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022.53, subds. (c), (d).) The court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate prison term of 50 years to life, consisting of 25 years to life for the murder count plus 25 years to life on the firearm use allegation. On appeal, defendant contends (1) he was denied his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights because the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for first degree murder; (2) the trial court prejudicially abused its discretion in showing the jury a photograph of his tattoo to aid a witness's identification (3) the trial court erroneously denied his request to present third party culpability evidence (4) the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct during his closing argument; (5) the trial court erred by denying his motion for new trial based on juror bias/taint; and (6) his 25 year to life sentence on the firearm allegations constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the state and federal Constitutions. Court reject these contentions and affirm the judgment.
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