People v. Gana
Annotate this CaseDefendant shot and killed her husband and chased after her sons, shooting at and striking her eldest son. Defendant attempted to shoot herself in the head, but the bullet grazed her neck. Her son described defendant as “look[ing] possessed. . . . She then started crying and saying … what did I do. Responding officers found defendant in the bedroom holding her husband and crying. A deputy approached. He nudged her and she opened her eyes, “star[ing] straight ahead.” She stated, “I did, please kill me.’” Defendant did not respond to paramedics’ standard questions, but merely stared. The hospital noted “an altered level of consciousness” and inserted a tube to assist her breathing. Defendant had had a double mastectomy and was receiving chemotherapy and taking Ambien. She had financial problems and claims to have had suicidal thoughts for weeks and to have heard a voice in her head telling her what to do. A jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder and willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murders of her sons, by lying in wait. The court imposed a 40-year-to-life prison term. The court of appeal affirmed, upholding denial of requests to instruct the jury on misdemeanor manslaughter and unconsciousness, to modify an instruction on evidence regarding mental disease or defect, and to allow testimony by a physician who treated her after the shootings.
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