Man's Conviction Upheld For Shooting Girlfriend At Alhambra Motel
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld a man's conviction for his girlfriend's shooting death during an argument outside an
Alhambra motel.
The three-justice panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Juan Manuel Linares' claim that there were errors in his trial for the July 1, 2007, slaying of Yesenia Macias in a parking lot outside the Towne House Motel.
Police were called to the scene by a couple who heard two people arguing and then heard a gunshot before one of them heard a car drive off with its tires screeching, according to the appellate court panel's opinion.
Police did not find anything at the scene, but were dispatched to an East Los Angeles hospital, where Linares had driven the 20-year-old woman after the shooting, according to the justices' 21-page ruling.
Linares told investigators that he heard a bang, looked over at Macias in his car and realized she had been shot, the justices noted.
Macias, with whom the married Linares had worked at a recycling company, died that night of a gunshot wound to the neck, according to the ruling.
"There was no evidence presented that the killing was unintentional," the justices wrote in response to the defense's contention that jurors should have been instructed on involuntary manslaughter.
Linares was convicted of second-degree murder, with jurors finding true the allegation that he had personally used a firearm.
He was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison, but the appellate court panel found that an additional five years that was not included by the judge in the original sentence must be added to the term as a result of his 1998 robbery conviction.
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