Does the use of a racial slur by a defendant during a traffic collision with another motorcyclist result in him being convicted of murder?

The evidence of the traffic altercation and defendant's racial slurs did not create a substantial danger of undue prejudice. To be sure, "nigger" is a highly charged word. But "[t]he unfortunate reality is that odious, racist language continues to be used by some persons at all levels of our society. While offensive, the use of such language by a defendant is regrettably not so unusual as to inevitably bias the jury against the defendant." (People v. Quartermain, supra, 16 Cal.4th at p. 628.) Here, the jury appears to have given little weight to the evidence. The jury convicted defendant of only second degree murder, not first degree murder, and acquitted him of the hate crime allegations. As defendant's counsel concedes on appeal, "it is evident the jury did not use the evidence for its ostensible purpose of proving racial animus and premeditation." We also see no likelihood that the jury used the evidence for an improper purpose and wrongly convicted defendant of murder because he once yelled racial epithets during a traffic altercation. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence at trial.