P. v. Mendoza CA4/2
Defendant Victor Mendoza used violence of some kind to force an aged and sickly friend to leave his home, walk several blocks, and go into an open field; the victim’s blood was later found strewn throughout his kitchen/living room. Once in the field, the victim was killed with 12 to 15 blows from a machete.
Defendant denied inflicting the fatal blows. He testified that a person he knew only as “Miklo” forced him to bring the victim to the field by threatening to kill defendant’s family. Supposedly Miklo told defendant that he merely wanted to question the victim about allegations that the victim was a child molester, but Miklo killed the victim immediately upon arrival instead.
After a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of first degree murder, on a felony-murder theory (§§ 187, subd. (a), 189, subds. (a), (e)), with a kidnapping-murder special circumstance (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(B)).
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