P. v. Linares
A jury convicted appellant Eduardo Linares of second degree murder as a lesser included offense of felony murder during a robbery. The jury found true the allegation that a principal was armed with a firearm in the commission of the murder. (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a); 12022, subd. (a)(1).) The trial court sentenced appellant to prison for a total of 16 years to life. Appellant appeals on the grounds that: (1) he was denied his constitutional right to due process of law because the evidence was insufficient to support his second degree murder conviction; (2) the trial court erred when it denied appellants new trial motion on the ground that the jurys verdict was contrary to the evidence; alternatively, the trial court erred when it failed to identify the target crime and describe the elements of the target crime under the natural and probable consequence doctrine; (3) the court committed reversible error, lessened the Peoples burden of proof, and denied appellant his right to trial by jury and due process of law by giving a legally incorrect definition of malice; (4) the trial court committed prejudicial error when, in response to the jurys first request for more clarification on second degree murder and manslaughter, and its third request for clarification of the words intentional act, it directed the jury back to the given jury instructions; and (5) the cumulative effect of the instructional errors requires reversal. The judgment is affirmed.
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