People v. Soto
Annotate this CaseSoto, armed with a knife, kicked in the front door of Ramirez’s apartment, entered the apartment, and found Ramirez and Saavedra in the living room, with their young son, watching television. Soto and Ramirez engaged in a knife fight. Both parties stabbed each other repeatedly. Soto fled. Ramirez died from his wounds. Saavedra later testified that Soto stabbed Ramirez first. Soto claimed that Ramirez started the fight, forcing Soto to protect himself, and that he had been using alcohol and methamphetamine in the days before the offense. Soto asserted a theory of imperfect self-defense. The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree burglary. The court sentenced Soto to 16 years to life in prison. The court of appeal affirmed, acknowledging that the trial court erred by limiting the jury’s consideration of evidence of voluntary intoxication, but finding the error not prejudicial. Penal Code section 29.4 expressly allows for consideration of voluntary intoxication with respect to express malice. Because an actual but unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense negates express malice, section 29.4 makes evidence of voluntary intoxication relevant to the state of mind required for imperfect self-defense. The court did not err in excluding pretrial statements Soto made to police as prior consistent statements; defense counsel was not ineffective for failing to seek their admission.
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