People v. Ozuna

In People v. Ozuna (1963) 213 Cal. App. 2d 338, 28 Cal. Rptr. 663, the defendant's first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. He was convicted only after a second trial. During the second trial, a police officer testified the defendant told him his girlfriend carried his (defendant's) firearm, because defendant, an ex-felon, did not want to be caught with a firearm. As the officer had not given this testimony at the first trial, the appellant court concluded: "There can be no doubt as to the sufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict of voluntary manslaughter, but it cannot be said the evidence of guilt was so strong as to preclude a finding of innocence. It is significant that upon the former trial there was no evidence of defendant's statement that he was an ex-convict, and the jury disagreed." ( Id. at p. 342.)