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A state appeals court on Tuesday upheld a man’s conviction for the murder of an 18-year-old traveler in a Santa Monica park just over three years ago.
The three-person panel of the California Second Court of Appeals rejected the defense’s allegation that the court erred in admitting evidence of a previous attack by Jesse Ramirez-Perez and failing to brief the jury on self-defense and the lesser crime of voluntary homicide .
Ramirez-Perez was convicted of second degree murder in September 2019 for October 3, 2018, in which Eric Perrine was stabbed to death on the way to the hospital.
“The fact that the defendant stabbed and killed Perrine was not seriously denied in court. In fact, the evidence for these facts was overwhelming, ”the appellate court stated in its 17-page judgment. “Perrine identified the accused to police officers as his attacker. The officers found the defendant on the run and saw him throw the knife into a planting box when they confronted him. After the defendant was arrested, the officers seized the knife. DNA tests found the defendant’s and Perrine’s DNA on the handle of the knife and Perrine’s blood on the blade. “
Jurors heard evidence that Ramirez-Perez hit another homeless man with 60 cm armor in the face earlier this year while the victim was sleeping, but the jury did not hear that he was convicted of aggravated assault for that attack, so the judgment.
“Both attacks occurred in Santa Monica, in parks, against the homeless and about six months apart,” the appeals court judges stated. “In each case, the defendant used a weapon to inflict a single wound on the victim and then fled. Although the wounds were on different parts of the victim’s body (a massive blow to the head with a steel bar and a knife stab in the chest), all support the conclusion that the accused acted willfully, deliberately disregarding the mortal danger of both victims. “
The panel found that the full court record “does not allow a reasonable conclusion that the defendant acted in self-defense because of a fight or battle” and found that he had committed an “unprovoked attack on a similar victim in a similar location” .
Ramirez-Perez is serving a prison sentence ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment.
Man’s conviction upheld for murdering a young transient in Santa Monica was last changed: December 21, 2021 through
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