People v. Guan CA1/2

Filed 4/10/25 P. v. Guan CA1/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, A168412 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (San Francisco County Super. Ct. MIN JIAN GUAN, Nos. CRI 20007040, SCN233216) Defendant and Appellant.

A jury convicted defendant Min Jian Guan of first degree murder for killing his housemate Yu Qin Sun, and the trial court sentenced him to 25 years to life. Guan contends the court erred in three ways: (1) by finding Guan understood—and thus knowingly waived—his Miranda1 rights; (2) by giving standard instructions implying that the jury could find him guilty of second degree murder only if he faced provocation that not only led him, but would have led a reasonable person, to act in the heat of passion; and (3) by denying his request for new counsel without holding a Marsden2 hearing. Guan also contends, and the People agree, that the abstracts of judgment must be corrected. We affirm the judgment but remand for correction of the abstracts.

1 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda).

2 People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (Marsden).

1

BACKGROUND Evidence at Trial Sun, age 79, and Guan, then age 60, rented rooms in a house in San Francisco. They often argued: Sun’s night-time coughing kept Guan awake; she found him unduly noisy; and he thought she stole his eggs. One evening, a fellow tenant named Chen heard a noise and found the two arguing in the kitchen by an overturned trash can that Sun said Guan had kicked over. Guan was berating Sun, who looked fearful. Worried that Guan would hurt her, Chen stepped between them. On the afternoon Sun was killed, she was in her room attending a class by Zoom on her iPad. During the class, which began at 4:00 p.m., the class leader saw Sun move off camera and heard her say in Mandarin, “What are you doing?” The class leader and a student heard Sun scream and her body fall. They heard a “suffering . . . moaning” sound and gasping for air; they also heard blows. Finally, they saw—but only from the waist down—someone in gray sweatpants and blue slippers close Sun’s iPad. The class leader’s son called 911. Upon arriving at the house, responding officers encountered Guan, who was wearing gray sweatpants and blue slippers. Inside the house, the officers smelled burnt alcohol. After determining that Guan spoke Cantonese rather than English, the officers requested the dispatch of a Cantonese- speaking officer, leading to the arrival of Officer Janning Ma, a certified Cantonese translator. When Ma asked Guan if he lived at the house, Guan said he did and no one else was there at the time. After officers mentioned someone having called an ambulance, Guan said, “I don’t know. I just got back.” Ma told Guan to go up to his room while the officers searched the house.