Opinion ID: 2640351
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's Statements to Ellis and Coworker Rochelle Lopez

Text: Sometime before defendant and Ellis robbed Tillman on October 31, 1990, defendant told Ellis that he disliked Asians because he got kicked off Okinawa. Defendant referred to Asians as gooks and Hispanics as spick[s] and wetback[s]. Between November 3, 1995, and January 28, 1996, Rochelle Lopez worked with defendant, whom she knew as Jerry Lindberg, at a Kmart store in Tustin. On one occasion in the employee lunchroom, an African-American employee came in, said hello, and then left the area. Defendant told a supervisor, I hate that nigger bitch. She got on my nerves, or something to that effect. On another occasion, some Asians walked into the store and defendant said, There goes gooks, or words to that effect. On January 10, 1996, about two and a half weeks before the murder of Thien Minh Ly, Lopez left Kmart with Christopher and saw defendant, who was part of a crowd, pushing and screaming at an Asian man. The man asked defendant, Why are you doing this to me?