A state appeals court panel Thursday upheld a former North Hollywood resident’s conviction for the August 2013 death of his girlfriend, who was stabbed in a moving car and then run over by several vehicles after jumping out of it on the Foothill (210) Freeway in Sylmar.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found there was “overwhelming evidence” of Ricardo Jimenez’s guilt in the Aug. 29, 2013, death of Maria “Josie” Jimenez, to whom he was not related.
The physical evidence showed that Jimenez repeatedly stabbed his 22-year- old girlfriend, causing 14 incise wounds to her hands and two to her upper back, the justices noted.
The woman — whom Deputy District Attorney Elena Camaras Abramson argued jumped from the moving vehicle to try to escape from her boyfriend — was subsequently struck by several cars and trucks.
She died from blunt force traumatic injuries and incise injuries, according to the appellate court panel’s 31-page ruling.
Jimenez was convicted of second-degree murder for her death, with jurors finding true an allegation that he had personally used a knife during the commission of the crime.
The appellate court panel rejected the defense’s contention that the trial court erred in allowing the prosecutor to question Jimenez during cross- examination about his misdemeanor domestic violence conviction involving a former girlfriend, along with Jimenez’s claim that jurors should have been instructed on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.
The justices noted that Jimenez had displayed a knife while at a tattoo parlor with his girlfriend, and that three people at the business collectively testified that her boyfriend was belligerent, using profanity towards her and insulting her while she remained non-violent and calm.
The red Toyota Corolla, which belonged to the victim, was later found abandoned in the Foothill area and had her blood on the passenger side of the vehicle, authorities said.
Ricardo Jimenez — who subsequently told a former girlfriend that he wanted to flee to Tijuana or Las Vegas — never inquired about his girlfriend’s condition and did not turn himself in to police until two days later, according to the ruling.
The appellate court panel noted that there was “evidence of consciousness of guilt, namely, appellant’s flight from the homicide scene, disposal of Maria’s car, desire to flee the country, and disposal of the homicide weapon,” and that evidence about his prior acts of domestic violence against two former girlfriends “demonstrated that appellant had a pattern of physically abusing women.
—City News Service