California v. Ramirez
Annotate this CaseA jury convicted Victor Espudo Ramirez, Jr., and his brother Armando Ramirez of first degree murder and active participation in a criminal street gang. The jury found true a gang special circumstance allegation on the murder count, and also found true a gang enhancement and firearm enhancement on that count. Defendants argued on appeal of their convictions that the trial court erroneously prevented the jury from considering their self-defense claim by instructing the jury categorically that “[a] person does not have the right to self-defense if he provokes a fight or quarrel with the intent to create an excuse to use force.” (CALCRIM No. 3472.) The prosecutor argued repeatedly based on the plain terms of this instruction that even if the jury believed defendants sought to provoke only a fistfight, their bare intent “to use force” as stated in the instruction meant they forfeited a claim of imperfect self-defense. After review, the Court of Appeal held that the instruction misstated the law. The trial court sentenced defendants to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus a term of 25 years to life for the firearm use. Based on the instructional error, we reverse the judgment.
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