Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/4th/7/1148.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 08:28:24+00:00

Document:
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BRIAN DAVID FRYE, Defendant and Appellant.
Thomas Lundy, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Michael Weinberger and Joel Carey, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
In this case of murder and attempted murder, the trial court instructed the jury that a killing or attempted killing was unlawful unless it was either excusable or justifiable. It went on to instruct the jury that "[i]t is undisputed in this case that each of the acts in question was an unlawful act." Defendant contends that by this instruction the trial court improperly directed the jury's verdict on disputed factual issues. We reject this contention in the published portion of this opinion. As we shall explain, the word "unlawful" in the various homicide instructions simply means that there was no excuse or justification for the killing. In this sense it is a negative rather than an affirmative element of the homicide offenses. Because there was no issue of excuse or justification tendered or raised in this case, the trial court did not direct a verdict on either an affirmative element of the charged crimes or on a defense to those crimes.
Defendant Brian David Frye appeals from a judgment sentencing him to state prison after a jury found him to be guilty of the first degree murder of William Edward Massey, Jr., with the personal use of a firearm, and of the attempted murder of Jennifer Lynn Bothun, with the personal use of a firearm and in which he intentionally inflicted great bodily injury. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 664/187, 12022.5, 12022.7.) In addition to the directed verdict [7 Cal. App. 4th 1152] issue, defendant further contends: (1) the felony-murder instructions did not require the jury to find that an intent to commit robbery preceded the killing; (2) the court erred in failing to instruct on unconsciousness; (3) the jury instruction on express malice was erroneous; (4) the court failed to require jury unanimity with respect to an act of robbery for application of the felony-murder rule; (5) the failure to grant testimonial immunity to a defense witness violated principles of due process; (6) the court failed to consider intoxication in mitigation at sentencing; and (7) only one sentence enhancement for the use of a firearm may be imposed. We consider these remaining contentions in the unpublished portion of this opinion and there agree with defendant's last contention and shall modify the judgment accordingly. In all other respects we shall affirm.
The murder victim, William Massey, Jr., was a seller of methamphetamines. The victim of the attempted murder, Jennifer Bothun, was Massey's girlfriend. Defendant was one of Massey's customers. In the months before the murder Massey had sold drugs to defendant on credit and had become infuriated when defendant failed to pay his debt. In fact, Massey had refused to sell any more drugs to defendant until he paid his debt.
In the early morning hours of January 24, 1988, Bothun and Massey were together when Massey's electronic paging beeper sounded. It signalled a telephone number and defendant's customer code. Massey called defendant. Bothun heard Massey ask if defendant had the money he owed and then ask where to meet. Massey told Bothun that before he took her home they would meet defendant at a school parking lot to pick up some money.
When Massey and Bothun arrived at the school they could not locate defendant. After unsuccessfully looking for him they began to drive away but then saw him in the parking lot and returned. Bothun leaned over and unlocked the passenger door as defendant approached Massey's truck. Defendant began shooting into the truck. At first he shot through the closed window but then opened the door and fired again. Defendant fired numerous shots into the truck. The shots killed Massey and seriously wounded Bothun. Bothun blacked out.
When Bothun regained consciousness defendant was going through Massey's jacket pockets. Defendant pushed Massey's body to the floor of the truck and began driving away. For a time Bothun acted as though she was dead but eventually she sat up and pleaded with defendant not to kill her. Defendant pointed his gun at Bothun. She grabbed the barrel and pushed it [7 Cal. App. 4th 1153] away. Defendant began struggling with Bothun for the gun and as he did so it discharged into his fingers. Bothun grabbed the steering wheel and caused defendant to stop the truck. As they struggled for the gun Bothun grabbed the truck keys and threw them out. Defendant retrieved the keys and attempted to put them in the ignition but Bothun hit his hands and caused him to drop them. Throughout this ordeal defendant intermittently attempted to strangle Bothun.
Bothun's screams attracted the attention of a number of people, including Woodrow Lloyd, a nearby resident. Lloyd told his son and his roommate to call the police, then he armed himself and went out to the truck. He pulled defendant out of the truck and placed himself between defendant and the truck. Defendant told Lloyd that he and his girlfriend had been drinking and were having a problem and that it was none of his business. Defendant tried to get around Lloyd and back to the truck but Lloyd would not let him do so. Lloyd pulled out his gun and told defendant that he had called the police and that defendant was not going to get back to the truck until they arrived. Defendant fled on foot.
As defendant ran home he hid certain items of evidence, including a holster, bullets, and items of clothing, in residential yards. When he arrived home he concealed his injury from his mother and hid his gun in the crawl space above the kitchen. He called his father for help and said that his fingers had been shot off. Before defendant's father could take him to the doctor, police officers arrived to arrest him. Defendant asked the arresting officers to take him to the hospital and said that he had a firecracker go off in his hand. This was also the explanation defendant gave to the doctor who treated his wounds at the hospital.
The defense questioned defendant's mental state at the time of the crimes. Defendant testified to drug and alcohol abuse in the few days preceding the incident. He said that he had not slept for a long period before the crimes. He claimed to remember little about the actual incident. A defense expert testified to the effects that substance abuse can have on a person's mental state. Based upon defendant's version of the events, he opined that defendant had an impaired mental state at the time of the crimes.
[1b] It is in this light that we must review the jury instructions in this case. The circumstances of this case which we find relevant in our review are: (1) There was no evidence to suggest any form of excuse or justification. (2) Defendant did not object to the court's special instruction and did not otherwise indicate that he was relying upon excuse or justification. (3) In argument to the jury defendant conceded the unlawfulness of his conduct. After noting that one psychological author had suggested that a person in a drug-induced blackout is not truly responsible for his conduct, counsel said: "Fine. If that were literally true then I can say [defendant] is not guilty, okay, but I'm not going to say that to you. I'm not going to say he's not guilty. I'm not going to try and tell you he's not responsible for these shootings because he is responsible, and there is some price he has to pay for them. [¶] But I am trying to tell you it's-simply that from all the circumstances available for us to know at this point, all of those circumstances clearly points [sic] to the conclusion and the fact he did not deliberate, he did not premeditate, and he may not have even had malice aforethought."
We have noted that the concept of unlawfulness in a homicide case simply signifies the absence of excuse or justification and that excuse and justification are affirmative defenses which need not and should not be put before the jury in the absence of some evidence supporting them or defense reliance upon them. Since there was no issue of excuse or justification here, the concept of unlawfulness was superfluous to the charged offenses. In instructing a jury it is proper for a trial court to explain and define terms which [7 Cal. App. 4th 1160] might otherwise lead to confusion. (People v. Failla (1966) 64 Cal. 2d 560, 565 [51 Cal. Rptr. 103, 414 P.2d 39]; People v. Smith (1978) 78 Cal. App. 3d 698, 710 [144 Cal. Rptr. 330].) This is what the court did by explaining to the jury that the word unlawful means without excuse or justification and that there was no issue in this case with respect to those defenses. Since those defenses are not elements of the offenses which the prosecution is required to prove unless they are properly raised, we do not find the instruction to have been erroneous in the circumstances presented.
 It is not enough that, considered in isolation, a particular instruction is valid and appropriate. We must also consider the instructions as a whole to determine what they would mean to a reasonable juror. (Francis v. Franklin, supra, 471 U.S. at pp. 315-316 [85 L.Ed.2d at p. 354]; People v. Bunyard (1988) 45 Cal. 3d 1189, 1230 [249 Cal. Rptr. 71, 756 P.2d 795].) A technically correct instruction will nevertheless be considered erroneous if in light of other instructions it could cause a reasonable jury to believe that it was required to find against the defendant on an essential element of the offense (Sandstrom v. Montana (1979) 442 U.S. 510, 524 [61 L. Ed. 2d 39, 51, 99 S.Ct. 2450]), that the burden had shifted to the defendant with respect to an essential element of the offense (ibid.), or that its consideration of all of the evidence with respect to an essential element of the offense was restricted (Martin v. Ohio, supra, 480 U.S. at pp. 233-234 [94 L.Ed.2d at p. 274]).
[1c] Upon consideration of the instructions as a whole we do not find that a reasonable jury would have been misled by the court's special instruction. The court fully instructed the jury with respect to each element of the charged offenses and lesser-included offenses and with respect to every defensive matter raised. The instructions made it clear that the prosecution bore the burden of proof with respect to all issues and that a reasonable doubt as to any issue would preclude a finding against defendant on the charge to which that issue related. The court's special instruction merely informed the jury that there was no issue presented with respect to excuse or justification; it did not tend to operate as the functional equivalent of a directed verdict with respect to any of the charges of which defendant stands convicted.
Moreover, in Connecticut v. Johnson, supra, 460 U.S. at page 87 [74 L.Ed.2d at pages 834-835], the court held that a defendant may be found to have conceded the issue in question by the nature of the defense presented or by other conduct, in which event an error of this nature would not be prejudicial. In this case defendant conceded the unlawfulness of the use of violence against the victims by express concession as well as by failing to raise excuse or justification in any manner. Any error in the court's special instruction was therefore harmless.
The judgment is modified to provide that defendant shall serve only one enhancement for the use of a firearm pursuant to Penal Code section 12022.5. As modified and in all other respects the judgment is affirmed. The trial court is directed to forward an amended abstract of judgment to the Department of Corrections.
Scotland, J., and Nicholson, J., concurred.
FN *. Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 976(b) and 976.1, this opinion is certified for publication with the exception of parts II-VIII.
FN 2. For example, homicide done under a valid public authority, such as execution of a death sentence or killing an enemy in time of war, would not be unlawful. (See Perkins & Boyce, Criminal Law (3d ed. 1982) p. 1093.) Under appropriate circumstances, homicide committed in defense of habitation or of other persons or to suppress a riot or to capture a fleeing felon would not be unlawful. (Pen. Code, §§ 196-198.) In very limited circumstances consent or condonation will render lawful that which otherwise would constitute unlawful homicide. (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (b).) Excuse or justification may be raised in other forms depending upon the circumstances of a particular case.
FN *. See footnote, ante, page 1148.

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