P. v. Montanio
Defendant was charged with brother’s murder and with arson causing great bodily injury. The complaint further alleged that defendant personally used a firearm in committing the murder and the special circumstance that he killed brother to prevent him from testifying in a criminal proceeding. A jury convicted defendant of both counts and found the additional allegations true.
The court sentenced defendant to life without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction, plus the upper term of 10 years for the firearm enhancement. The court sentenced defendant to nine years on the arson conviction, which was stayed pursuant to section 654.
Defendant makes the following contentions: (1) the evidence of brother’s statements that he was going to meet Defendant on the day he was killed to discuss the credit card fraud violated his rights under the confrontation clause; (2) the trial court prejudicially erred in allowing evidence of statements made by Brother during telephone conversations overheard by others; (3) trial counsel was ineffective when he failed to object during the prosecutor’s closing argument; (4) the evidence was insufficient to support the true finding on the special circumstance allegation; (5) the record includes certain sentencing errors; (6) the imposition of upper term sentences violates his constitutional rights; and (7) the imposition of a court security fee violates the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws. Court affirms the judgment, reject defendant’s argument regarding the court security fee, and instructs the trial court to correct certain sentencing errors.
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