People v. Seals CA2/8

Filed 3/30/26 P. v. Seals CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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(a). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115(a).

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B336917

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA474960) v.

TOI SEALS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ray G. Jurado, Judge. Affirmed. Lise M. Breakey, 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, Kenneth C. Byrne and Blake Armstrong, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _______________________________________

INTRODUCTION A jury convicted defendant Toi Seals of assault with a firearm, and it found true great bodily injury and firearm enhancements. On appeal, Seals argues his attorney rendered ineffective assistance by failing to request a “no duty to retreat” pinpoint instruction to support his claim of self-defense. As we explain, any omission by counsel did not prejudice Seals because the evidence did not support a no duty to retreat instruction. Accordingly, we affirm Seals’s conviction. BACKGROUND One early morning in February 2019, Carlos Guerrero, Robert Jojola, Arlando Martinez, and Carlos Valencia were inside a tent on a sidewalk in Hollywood. Dillion Mahoney and his girlfriend slept in another tent nearby. Around 5:00 a.m., Seals stopped his car near the tents and began “honking aggressively.” Guerrero confronted Seals and asked him to stop honking his car’s horn. Seals pulled his car to the curb, with his driver’s side window facing the sidewalk. Seals and Guerrero started arguing. After Mahoney heard Seals say “I’ll fuck you up” or “I’ll beat your ass” to Guerrero, Mahoney approached Seals and asked him to “take it somewhere else.” Seals told Mahoney that he would “fuck [Mahoney] up.” Mahoney then slammed his hand on Seals’s driver’s side window several times trying “to seem intimidating.” Seals told Mahoney, “I got something for you,” before driving away. Seals drove to the next intersection, made a U-turn, and stopped his car across the street from the tents. Seals then got out of his car, opened the back door, and retrieved something from the back passenger area of the car before returning to the