People v. Betancourt-Rayo CA4/3

Filed 5/5/22 P. v. Betancourt-Rayo CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G059640

v. (Super. Ct. No. 18HF0555)

EDUARDO ANTONIO BETANCOURT- OPINION RAYO,

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Cheri T. Pham, Judge. Affirmed. Barbara A. Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Holly D. Wilkens and Robin Urbanski, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Eduardo Antonio Betancourt-Rayo appeals from a judgment after a jury convicted him of the deliberate and premediated attempted murder of his estranged wife (Wife). He argues the trial court committed evidentiary and sentencing errors. We disagree and affirm the judgment. FACTS Wife’s bartending shift ended at midnight, and she got into her Toyota Camry to drive home. As she drove away, Betancourt-Rayo drove up rapidly behind her in his truck. Wife stopped at a red light and called her mother to tell her he was following her. Betancourt-Rayo crashed into a car stopped next to Wife’s car. Wife saw her car’s rear window glass shatter and felt something strike the back of her driver’s seat pushing it forward. She looked back and saw bullet holes. Wife drove through the red light and called 911. Wife drove evasively to avoid being shot. Betancourt-Rayo rammed his truck into the Camry a few times. After the last impact, Betancourt-Rayo lost control of his truck and crashed into a wall. Wife remained in the Camry because the driver’s side door was stuck; she was uninjured. Meanwhile, deputy sheriff Jason McDermott responded to a call of shots fired involving two vehicles. He saw a Toyota Camry drive through a red light without stopping and a Toyota Tacoma travel rapidly through the same intersection. McDermott followed the two vehicles and found the crashed truck. He and his partner approached the truck and heard someone speaking. They opened the door, saw a bloody hand, and pulled Betancourt-Rayo out of the truck. On the floor of the passenger’s side of the truck, they found a revolver with the hammer cocked and rounds in the chamber. The Camry had multiple bullet holes, including in the back of the driver’s seat and the right front passenger headrest. An information charged Betancourt-Rayo with deliberate and premediated attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664, subd. (a), 187, subd. (a), all further statutory