IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOSE LUIS LEON, Defendant and Appellant. S143531 Riverside County Superior Court RIF109916 January 23, 2020 Justice Corrigan authored the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Cantil-Sakuaye and Justices Chin, Liu, Cuéllar, Kruger, and Groban concurred. Justice Cuéllar filed a concurring opinion. PEOPLE v. LEON S143531 Opinion of the Court by Corrigan, J. While his estranged girlfriend was studying abroad, defendant Jose Luis Leon went to her home and fatally stabbed her grandmother and 13-year-old brother. He also attacked her grandfather with a hatchet. Although admitting the crimes, he claimed he acted in imperfect self-defense. He was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, with a multiple-murder special circumstance and enhancements for personal use of a deadly weapon and infliction of great bodily injury.1 The jury fixed the penalty at death for one murder and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the other. The court imposed an additional sentence of life without possibility of parole plus four years for the attempted murder. We affirm the judgment. I. BACKGROUND A. Guilt Phase 1. Defendant’s Relationship with the Ragland Family Veronica Haft and her younger brother, Austin Perez, lived with their grandparents, Hope and Marion Ragland. Hope 1 Penal Code sections 187, subdivision (a), 664/187, subdivision (a), 190.2, subdivision (a)(3), 12022, subdivision (b)(1), 12022.7, subdivision (a), and 1192.7, subdivision (c)(8) & (c)(23). All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated. 1 PEOPLE v. LEON Opinion of the Court by Corrigan, J. was a nurse, and Marion was retired.2 They had raised Veronica since childhood. Austin came to live with them around age seven. Veronica was particularly close to Hope, whom she called “my best friend.” Veronica began dating defendant when she was 16. He said he was 19 but was actually 21. He had moved to the country from Mexico two years earlier and spoke only limited English. Veronica and her grandmother were fluent in Spanish. Veronica’s brother and grandfather did not know Spanish and spoke with defendant in English. The first year of their relationship was happy. Defendant spent time at the Ragland home and was included in their family activities. Hope initially welcomed defendant’s presence, cooking for him and joining the couple on outings. A few months into the relationship, Hope purchased a red Ford Mustang for defendant, who agreed to make monthly payments to her. He kept up with the payments initially but later began missing them. After defendant’s parents moved back to Mexico, he rented an apartment from a woman Hope visited for tarot card readings. Defendant believed the two were involved in witchcraft. Around this time, defendant stopped working. He spent his days at the Ragland house and became increasingly possessive and jealous. Near the end of her senior year, Veronica suggested breaking up. Defendant responded by angrily punching his windshield and grabbing Veronica’s wrist as she tried to leave the car. 2 To ...
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