People v. Chhuon & Pan

── People v. Chhuon & Pan ── Court: California Supreme Court Date: June 01, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RUN PETER CHHUON and SAMRETH SAM PAN, Defendants and Appellants. S105403 Los Angeles County Superior Court KA032767 June 1, 2026 Justice Groban authored the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Guerrero and Justices Corrigan and Kruger concurred. Justice Liu filed a concurring and dissenting opinion, in which Justices Evans and Jenkins* concurred. . * Retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.  PEOPLE v. CHHUON and PAN S105403 Opinion of the Court by Groban, J. Defendants Run Peter Chhuon and Samreth Sam Pan were tried jointly before separate juries. They were convicted of the first degree murders of Nghiep Thich Le and Hung Dieu Le (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a));1 the willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder of Quyen Luu (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a)); first degree burglary (§ 459); and attempted robbery (§§ 664, 211). The separate juries also found true allegations that Chhuon and Pan voluntarily acted in concert with two or more persons to commit a robbery within an inhabited dwelling house (§ 213, subd. (a)(1)(A)); a principal was armed with a handgun in the commission of the crimes (§ 12022, subd. (a)(2)); and Chhuon personally used a firearm in the commission of the crimes (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)). In addition, Chhuon and Pan were convicted of the first degree murder of Miguel Vargas Avina (§ 187, subd. (a)) and the willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder of Rodolfo Huerta (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a)). The separate juries found true the allegations that a principal was armed with a handgun in the commission of this murder (§ 12022); Pan personally used a handgun in the commission of this murder and attempted murder (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)); and Chhuon and Pan acted for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang with the specific 1 All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 1  PEOPLE v. CHHUON and PAN Opinion of the Court by Groban, J. intent to promote, further, and assist in criminal conduct by gang members (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). The separate juries found true the special circumstances that Chhuon and Pan committed multiple murders (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)), and the murders of Nghiep 2 and Hung were committed while Chhuon and Pan were engaged in burglary and attempted robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A), (G)). The trial court found true the special circumstance that Chhuon and Pan previously had been convicted of first degree murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(2)). The separate juries returned verdicts of death, and the trial court entered judgments of death. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) For the reasons that follow, we vacate the true finding on Chhuon’s gang enhancement but otherwise affirm his judgment. We reverse Pan’s judgment in its entirety because defense counsel violated Pan’s right to decide the objective of his defense. (See McCoy v. Louisiana (2018) 584 U.S. 414 [138 S.Ct. 1500] (McCoy); post, pt. III.B.2.) I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND A. Guilt Phase 1. Prosecution Evidence Chhuon and Pan committed their crimes on July 27, 1995, in Sacramento and August 8, 1995, in Pomona. a. Sacramento crimes The Le family sold candy, cigarettes, and similar items out of their Sacramento apartment. On July 27, 1995, Chhuon, Pan, 2 We refer to individuals who share a last name with others by their first names for clarity and not out of disres