People v. Moore CA4/1

Filed 10/3/24 P. v. Moore CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D082786

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCD285976) DARCELL MOORE,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Jeffrey F. Fraser, Judge. Affirmed. Marcia R. Clark, 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, A. Natasha Cortina and Christine Levingston Bergman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION1 After trial, a jury convicted Darcell Moore of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)). On appeal, Moore contends the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury as to subjective provocation. We disagree and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The facts are largely undisputed. Moore and an associate, Willie Gray, repeatedly stabbed Shawn Puzzo, a homeless man, while he was sleeping, leaving him mortally injured. Moore testified at trial that three days before the stabbing, he had awakened in the dark to see Puzzo standing very near him, looking at him with a blank stare. Moore “hopped up” and “got out of the way.” Puzzo then backed up. That was the only interaction Moore ever had with Puzzo. Moore testified that this incident scared him. Later, he stole a knife “to protect [himself] if anything happens.” A few nights later, Moore and Gray saw Puzzo sleeping in the alcove of a business. Moore stabbed him twice. “I wasn’t thinking. I don’t know. I wasn’t even thinking. I just reacted. I snapped. I just went straight. I just did it.” “I was somewhere else . . . I wasn’t there.” Moore cut his finger while he was stabbing Puzzo, and the cut required stitches. Moore testified that he did not decide to stab Puzzo because of the earlier incident and had no other reason to stab him. Moore testified that Gray also stabbed Puzzo. “So after I did what I did, I stood up, and for some reason, I don’t know, I just went into a dizzy state.” He took gift cards out of Puzzo’s pockets but did not remove