People v. Muhammad

Filed 2/22/23

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d. Crim. No. B322899 (Super. Ct. No. F17902482) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Fresno County)

v.

KORI MUHAMMAD,

Defendant and Appellant.

Here we hold that allowing a jury to deliberate during the COVID pandemic is not coercive and does not deprive a defendant of the due process of law. A jury convicted appellant Kori Muhammad of one count of first degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189),1 three counts of second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)), four counts of attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664), one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle (§ 246), and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1)). The jury found true allegations that appellant used a firearm during each of the crimes (§12022.53, subds. (b), (c), & (d)), committed multiple

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

murders (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)), and committed three of the four murders because of race (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(16)). The trial court sentenced appellant to a total determinate term of 61 years in prison plus an indeterminate term of 145 years to life. Appellant contends the trial court deprived him of due process by coercing the jury to deliberate during the COVID pandemic. There was no jury coercion here and we affirm the judgment. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Appellant murdered four people during a 2017 shooting spree in Fresno. The People charged him with first degree murders and initially sought death penalty. Defense counsel conceded appellant committed the crimes but claimed he did so while suffering from symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, including auditory, visual, and olfactory hallucinations. His trial took place over 31 days in February, March, and April of 2020.2 Defense experts testified how mental illness skewed appellant’s perception of his environment and caused him to fixate on racial tensions. Appellant testified and described how shooting white people was part of his divine, preordained mission to establish “a kingdom of infinite peace and progress.” Appellant’s trial occurred during the COVID pandemic. The trial court directed jurors to sit farther apart and to isolate themselves as much as possible when they returned home each day after trial. When the defense rested on March 17, the trial court ordered jurors to return for closing argument on March 19 and assured them it would secure a spacious room for