People v. Lopez CA4/1

Filed 7/17/24 P. v. Lopez CA4/1

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D081757

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (San Diego County Super. Ct. MANUEL LOPEZ, No. SCD287164)

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Peter C. Deddeh, Judge. Affirmed. Justin Behravesh, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Christopher P. Beesley and Caelle McKaveney, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Manuel Lopez hit 67-year-old Allen Stokes in the head with a mallet causing severe brain injury and leaving Stokes bedridden until he died over three years later. A jury convicted Lopez of second-degree murder (Pen.

Code,1 § 187, subd. (a)) and found true the allegations that he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1) and used a weapon (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 4.421(a)(2)). The trial court sentenced him to 15 years to life, doubled for a prior strike, plus one year for the personal use of a deadly weapon. Lopez contends insufficient evidence supports his conviction because no reasonable trier of fact could have found the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Stokes’s death was criminal. He notes Stokes suffered from multiple chronic health conditions before the incident and the forensic pathologist was initially unsure as to his manner of death. We reject Lopez’s contentions and affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Lopez shared a dormitory style apartment with Stokes and Godfrey Q. Godfrey described 67-year-old Stokes as an “able-bodied” man who drove and needed no assistance walking or caring for himself. In the early morning hours of March 12, 2016, Godfrey heard Stokes get up as he often did. He heard Stokes talking to Lopez, followed by a loud thump and moaning. When he left his bedroom, he saw Stokes on the floor, bleeding profusely from the head. Stokes sustained multiple skull and facial fractures and had multiple areas of bleeding within the brain. He underwent emergency surgery to alleviate brain swelling and remove a blood clot. After his hospital stay, Stokes could not speak, move his arms or legs upon command, or swallow.