P. v. Yanaga CA2/6
Thomas Nolan Yanaga appeals from the judgment entered after a jury had convicted him of second degree murder. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189.) The jury found true an allegation that he had personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. (§ 12022.53, subd. (d).) He was sentenced to prison for 40 years to life.
Appellant is half Japanese. He contends that the trial court erroneously excluded evidence of white supremacist tattoos on the bodies of the deceased and a complaining witness, Ashley Moss. His theory is that the victim and the witness were biased against Japanese people. In addition, he argues that the trial court erroneously modified a standard jury instruction on the reduction of murder to manslaughter and failed to instruct sua sponte that, when he shot the deceased, he is presumed to have reasonably feared imminent death or great bodily injury. We affirm.
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