P. v. Vega CA1/4
In February 2016, while in a confused mental state, Robert James Vega shot and killed an off-duty police officer, who was also his de facto father-in-law and his son’s grandfather. Charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) with personal use of a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (b), (c) & (d)), he entered dual pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI). Vega claimed he killed Augustine Vegas (Augustine), whom he loved like a father, in a temporary state of psychosis associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), from which he had suffered since returning from military service in Iraq in 2007.
The prosecutor’s theory was that Vega’s psychotic state was induced by cannabis consumption and did not qualify as insanity under the law. (See §§ 25, 29.8.) Both psychotic conditions are relatively rare, but the jury sided with the prosecution.
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