People v. Castro CA2/3

Filed 9/29/25 P. v. Castro CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, B337183

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KA125696) v.

JUSTIN DOMINIC CASTRO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Victor D. Martinez, Judge. Affirmed. Karyn H. Bucur, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Jason Tran and Megan Moine, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________

A jury convicted Justin Castro of attempted murder. On appeal, Castro contends there was insufficient evidence to support that conviction, and instead, the evidence shows he acted in self-defense. Because there was sufficient evidence to support the judgment, we affirm. BACKGROUND I. Evidence at Castro’s trial On the morning of September 2, 2020, around 8:00 a.m., Pedro Gonzalez was doing construction work at a hospital in Baldwin Park. While walking to get supplies, he noticed a man wearing a dark or gray hoodie at the bus stop. Gonzalez got his supplies and was walking back through the parking lot when he saw a car pull up and two men who looked like they were going to fight. All of a sudden there was a shooting. The shooter was the same man Gonzalez had seen at the bus stop. To Gonzalez, it sounded like the shooter’s gun jammed after shots were fired, and the shooter cursed when it happened. The shooter walked to a black car that a woman was driving, yelled at her to shut up, and pointed a gun at her. The man who was shot, Danny Pinion, ran toward the hospital’s entrance. Gonzalez never saw Pinion with a gun. Two days after the shooting, Gonzalez identified Castro from a photographic six-pack as the shooter. Nora Ortega was working at the hospital’s outdoor flu clinic that day. In a statement she gave to police soon after the shooting, Ortega said a man in white shorts, Pinion, got out of a car, and a second man in gray shorts had a gun. Pinion put his hand in his pocket, but Ortega did not know if he was going to pull something out. At some point, the man in gray shorts started shooting. The shooter in gray shorts ran to a hilly grass