People v. Geragos CA2/2

Filed 4/21/16 P. v. Geragos CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

THE PEOPLE, B260024

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. GA088600) v.

IRA GERAGOS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Dorothy L. Shubin, Judge. Affirmed.

Adrian K. Panton, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Robert M. Snider, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ******

Ira Geragos (defendant) appeals his convictions for attempted murder, evading a police officer, and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. Defendant argues that the trial court erred in admitting portions of a jail phone call he made immediately after his arrest, and that the court failed to give a limiting instruction to the jury on that evidence. Neither of defendant’s arguments has merit, and we affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts A. Charged Conduct Defendant separated from his wife of 20 years in January 2010. During their marriage, defendant had repeatedly threatened to kill his wife and their two daughters. After the separation, the wife did not see defendant again until December 2012; that month, she saw him two times outside the office complex where Aram Akopyan (Akopyan), her then-current boyfriend, operated his acupuncture practice. When the wife confronted defendant the second time as to why he was there, he replied that his new girlfriend lived nearby and that he did not blame Akopyan for their separation. The wife was surprised that defendant knew Akopyan’s name. In the early afternoon of January 7, 2013, defendant entered the Akopyan’s acupuncture office and asked to make an appointment. At first, Akopyan did not recognize defendant as his girlfriend’s ex-husband. As he walked away to retrieve the scheduling notebook, Akopyan remembered and turned around. Defendant was holding a 9-millimeter handgun in his hand; defendant aimed the gun at Akopyan’s chest, called him a “Motherfucker” and pulled the trigger. Akopyan tried to grab the gun, and defendant shot him twice more, striking him in the wrist and then the elbow. Their struggle for the gun spilled into the courtyard of the office complex. Once in the courtyard, defendant fired the gun a fourth time at Akopyan’s head at pointblank range, but he missed and the bullet grazed Akopyan’s eyebrow. Defendant fled, and Akopyan identified defendant as the shooter when paramedics arrived to render aid. Akopyan survived.