People v. Benton

Opinion

ASHBY, J.

By jury trial appellant was convicted of discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling house. (Pen. Code, § 246.) Outside the presence of the jury appellant had admitted five prior convictions. Appellant was sentenced to state prison.

The victim, Wilma Harris, had known appellant for about 15 years. She had been a friend, sounding board or confidante. He sometimes became angry at her, including on two recent occasions when they argued about a newspaper article and when he came to her home requesting medical assistance and she told him he should go to a hospital instead. He had…