California v. Zinda,
Annotate this CaseDefendant Steven Zinda chased David Valdez into a field and murdered him with an axe. After drinking with some friends at a house in Rio Linda, Valdez decided to leave around 2:00 a.m. He was intoxicated and did not make it very far before driving his Honda Passport into a ditch near defendant's house. Valdez stayed with his vehicle while two friends left in a truck to get some tow chains. Meanwhile, defendant's house was being burglarized. Defendant stayed the night at a friend's house, but had reason to believe certain neighborhood gang members wanted to steal from him, so he set his alarm for 3:00 a.m. and stopped by his house to check on it before his early morning work shift. He arrived to find the burglary in progress. One burglar fled to a waiting car and drove away. Defendant went into his house, grabbed an axe from inside, and came back out. He then saw Valdez waiting for his friends on the side of the road. Assuming Valdez was one of the burglars, defendant walked out to him with the axe and yelled at him. Valdez ran. Defendant took this to be an admission of guilt and gave chase. Defendant was convicted by jury of second degree murder and found to have personally used a deadly weapon during the commission of the crime. He was sentenced to serve an indeterminate prison term of 15 years to life plus a consecutive determinate term of one year. On appeal, defendant argued the trial court: (1) erred by not instructing the jury, sua sponte, on (a) justifiable homicide in making an arrest, and (b) mistake of fact; (2) erroneously instructed the jury on heat of passion voluntary manslaughter; and (3) erroneously excluded "evidence that [Valdez] claimed a gang affiliation, and photographs which either suggested a gang affiliation or gave a more accurate and neutral portrait of the victim near the time of his death." Finding no reversible error, the Court of Appeal affirmed.
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