Opinion ID: 2586281
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Defendant's Dealings With Daniel Magoon

Text: Several times between February and May of 1992, Johnson was present at the Magoon residence, mostly in the garage, where Daniel Magoon, who knew some Spanish, spoke with Spanish-speaking men. Johnson identified defendant at trial as someone he had seen with Daniel Magoon at least once in the garage. Defendant had been at the garage in the company of one or two other persons. Johnson did not recognize Alvarado. Defendant had also been in the company of a woman named Maria Lopez. [6] Johnson initially thought Maria Lopez and defendant were married, and assumed defendant's name was Jaime Lopez. Johnson had identified defendant in a live line-up as Jamie Lopez. Marbell Lopez met defendant in 1991, and had a close relationship with him. In February 1992, she purchased a Ford Bronco for defendant with money he gave her. She would occasionally drive defendant to the Magoon residence, had been there with him four or five times, and had met Daniel Magoon there once or twice while with defendant. She also met Alvarado through defendant. i. Alvarado's Firearms Use Thomas Lamb, who knew Alvarado, testified at trial. He stated that once, before the murders, Alvarado had displayed a nine-millimeter handgun to him. Earlier on the day the murders were committed, about 3:00 p.m., defendant, Alvarado, Thomas Arroyo, and Jose Chepe Sanabia drove to a gun shop in San Ysidro, California. [7] Alvarado, using the name Ralph Varela, purchased a Bersa, a .380-caliber gun manufactured in Argentina, which is smaller than a nine-millimeter gun and is called a nine-millimeter short. Alvarado did not take the gun with him that day, because there was a 15-day waiting period. Sanabia picked up the gun after the waiting period. On May 30, 1992, a detective searched Alvarado's residence in El Cajon. Underneath a drawer, the detective found an empty gun box for a semiautomatic nine-millimeter pistol. The serial number on the gun box matched the serial number of a weapon listed on the Department of Justice's records sold to Ralph Varela (Alvarado's alias).
Neither codefendant testified.
An official from the Mexican consulate testified that defendant had a valid Mexican truck driver's license.
As noted, toxicological specimens collected during the autopsy indicated that Daniel Magoon had 0.25 micrograms per milliliter of active cocaine in his blood. Stephen Stahl, M.D., a psychiatrist and psycho-pharmacologist, testified that this level of cocaine would be consistent with Daniel Magoon's being anywhere from mildly stimulated to being overtly crazy. Richard Whalley, a forensic scientist and toxicologist,' testified that, given this cocaine level, Daniel Magoon could have exhibited a range of behavior, from being a little more than usually alert to paranoia.
Arthur Coleman testified that on April 25, 1982, he was a deputy sheriff in Imperial County, and he encountered Daniel Magoon driving a van. Magoon appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, and Deputy Coleman arrested him. During an inventory search of the van, Deputy Coleman retrieved three loaded firearms, two unloaded firearms, approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and two bundles of marijuana.
Pathologist Arthur Koehler, M.D., testified that he had reviewed the medical reports, photographs, and other records of J.'s gunshot wounds. Dr. Koehler testified that the bullet entry to J.'s scalp was tangential, which meant that it was fired somewhat parallel to his scalp rather than at a right angle. Dr. Koehler stated that J.'s wound was consistent with a bullet passing through Mary Magoon's arm. Forensic pathologist, Irving Root, M.D., also testified about J.'s injuries. Dr. Root stated that, if J. had been injured in the area of the hallway bathroom, one would expect to see a blood trail from that area to the futon where J. was found, but there appeared to be no such blood trail. Because of this, and because of the large amount of blood on the futon, it was Dr. Root's opinion that J. was on the futon within a few seconds to one minute after he began to bleed. Dr. Root testified that the vomit found on the hallway floor was consistent with J.'s vomiting after he sustained the scalp injury.

The prosecution gave no opening statement, put on no evidence, and rested on the guilt phase evidence.
James Park, a correctional consultant and retired administrator for the California Department of Corrections, testified about the conditions of defendant's confinement, if he were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Carrie Baker, who lived in Jamul, testified that, in the early morning of May 27, 1992, she heard approximately five muffled gunshots around 2:45 a.m. (which would have been after the time defendants had been arrested). Three or four days later, she read something about the murders, called a number that was listed for information about the case, and left her name and telephone number on an answering machine. Eight members of defendant's family (his wife, three children, three brothers, and a sister) testified that they loved defendant and would be deeply saddened if he were put to death.