Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/176/330.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 21:39:43+00:00

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THE PEOPLE, Respondent, v. EDWIN KIRLEY HARRISON et al., Appellants.
Ellery E. Cuff, Public Defender (Los Angeles), Erling J. Hovden, Chief Deputy Public Defender, Richard B. Goethals, Former Deputy Public Defender, Richard W. Erskine, Deputy Public Defender, and Lloyd C. Griffith for Appellants.
By information defendants were charged in count I with attempted robbery of Lewis Williams, in count II with attempted robbery of Elijah Jones, and in count III with the murder of Lewis Williams. It was alleged in counts I and II that defendants were armed with a .38-caliber revolver. In a nonjury trial the defendants were found guilty as charged in each count and the allegations of being armed were found to be true. The attempted robberies were adjudged to be of the first degree. The penalty as to count III was fixed at life imprisonment as to each defendant.
On February 25, 1958, Elijah Jones was working in a cleaning establishment owned by Lewis Williams at 2111 East 92nd Street, Los Angeles. Williams was in the shop. Jones was sitting behind the counter in front of the cash register. Williams was sitting nearby at a sewing machine, also behind the counter. Defendants Harrison and Blackshear entered the shop. One of them was carrying some trousers. Williams walked up to the counter near the front door and asked, "What can I do for you?" One of the men said, "How much you charge me to clean these two pair of pants?" Williams replied, "60 cents a pair." Jones, whose back had been turned, heard "a lump; a noise," looked around, and saw Harrison behind the counter between himself and Williams with a gun in his hand. At that instant Harrison commenced firing at Jones. Jones was hit once in the arm. When Harrison commenced firing, Jones immediately reached behind the cash register and grabbed Williams' gun. He turned and fired at Harrison, emptying the gun. During this time Jones received three more wounds from the gun fired by Harrison. At that point Blackshear went back of the counter, grabbed Harrison, saying "Come on, man, you're shot," and took him out of the shop. Jones then noticed that Williams was lying on the floor at the end of the counter. Defendant Asberry waited on the street in an automobile to provide a means of escape.
Williams died a week later of a wound received during the encounter. Death was caused by acute septicemia due to a perforating wound of the abdomen with multiple visceral injuries. The bullet that inflicted the fatal wound was fired from the gun used by Jones.
No point is made with respect to the convictions of attempted robbery.
The question, as stated by defendants, is this: "Where a victim of an attempted robbery shoots at one of the three [176 Cal. App. 2d 332] robbers, either in self-defense or in an attempt to frustrate the robbery, and inadvertently kills the other intended victim of the robbery, are the three robbers guilty of murder in the first degree?"
"Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, with malice aforethought." (Pen. Code, § 187.) Counsel say: "Is it a murder under Section 187? And, is the felon responsible for a killing committed by another which killing is justifiable or excusable on the part of the person actually doing the killing? If a killing falls outside of Section 187, in that it is not an unlawful killing on the part of the actor, then we should not attribute this lawful act to someone else and make it unlawful. ... If a killing occurs during the commission of a felony the cases clearly hold that the malice aforethought to make it murder is implied, but this is only (with the exception of certain Pennsylvania cases) if the act was the act of one of the felons."
Penal Code, section 189, provides that murder which is committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate robbery is murder of the first degree--the felony-murder rule. "Perpetrate" means "To do or perform; to carry through; to commit (as an offense); to be guilty of; ... as to perpetrate a crime." "Perpetration" means "Act of perpetrating; a doing, esp. of something bad morally ...; an offensive action." (Webster's New Inter. Dict.) Counsel say: "Thus, we find that the killing is really not 'committed in the perpetration of' the robbery, but rather in an act to defeat and frustrate the robbery. We thus submit that the killing in this case does not come within the definition set forth in Penal Code Sections 187 and 189."
We have not been cited to, nor have we found, a California case which deals squarely with the question of criminal liability for a homicide occurring in the commission of, or attempt to commit, a felony where the fatal injury is inflicted by one not a participant in the felony.
On the other hand, there is some authority for the view that one engaged in the commission of a felony cannot be held criminally liable for the accidental killing of another in the course of the transaction by one who is not a participant in the felony. (Commonwealth v. Moore, 121 Ky. 97 [88 S.W. 1085, 2 L.R.A. N.S. 719, 123 Am.St.Rep. 189, 11 Ann.Cas. 1024]; Commonwealth v. Campbell, 89 Mass. (7 Allen) 541 [83 Am.Dec. 705]; Butler v. People, 125 Ill. 641 [18 N.E. 338]; State v. Oxendine, 187 N.C. 658 [122 S.E. 568]; People v. Garippo, 292 Ill. 293 [127 N.E. 75].) These cases are based on the theory that no person can be held responsible for a homicide unless the act was either actually or constructively committed by him; and that, in order to be his act, it must be committed by him or by someone acting in concert with him or in furtherance of a common design or purpose.
The principle of proximate cause applies to crime as to tort. Green, in "Rationale of Proximate Cause," states (p. 132): "Causal relation is the universal factor common to all legal liability. On the other hand, the constituents of the other elements of legal liability change with every type of action. In assault they are different from what they are in deceit; in contract different from what they are in crime. They constitute the universal variants. But causation is as much an element in an accident as in battery; in a breach of [176 Cal. App. 2d 334] contract as in murder. And it is exactly the same problem wherever found and is soluble by the same process."
In an article titled "Proximate Cause in the Law of Homicide," (12 So.Cal.L.Rev. 19), it is said (p. 30): "The ordinary physical responses of the human body are not intervening causes of which the law takes cognizance. ... [P. 33.] The act of a responsible human agent may intervene to constitute the final effective cause of death, and yet the initial act of the defendant may retain its causal character. Such cases are presented by two situations: (1) Where the intervening human act is a foreseeable consequence of the defendant's act. ... [P. 38.] Where A causes injury to or perpetrates some wrong upon B, but an intervening act of C is the actual cause of death, the responsibility of A depends upon whether his act substantially increased the risk that the act of C would take effect upon B. Illustrative is the California case of People v. Fowler [178 Cal. 657, 174 P. 892 (1918)]. A feloniously assaulted B and left him lying helpless on a roadside. There was evidence that the actual cause of death was an injury inflicted by a passing vehicle upon B while lying in his helpless condition. A was held guilty of homicide, as the intervening cause (the injury from the vehicle) was the natural and probable result of A's conduct."
"If a felonious assault engenders such terror as to cause an impulsive act of avoidance which results in loss of life, the attack is the proximate cause of the death 'whether or not the act of avoidance was that of a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances.' It would be absurd to permit a [176 Cal. App. 2d 336] murderous assailant to escape on the theory that the death resulted not from his act but from a imprudent defensive act of his victim in the sudden terror of the moment; and hence the juridical view of the causal relation is extended because of the moral obliquity of the defendant's action.
In People v. Podolski, 332 Mich. 508 [52 N.W.2d 201], cert. den. 334 U.S. 845 [73 S. Ct. 62, 97 L. Ed. 657], reh. den. 334 U.S. 888 [73 S. Ct. 185, 97 L. Ed. 687], the defendant participated in an armed robbery of a bank. During his attempt to escape and an ensuing gun battle with police officers, an officer was killed by a bullet from the weapon of a fellow officer. The [176 Cal. App. 2d 339] court, quoting with approval from Commonwealth v. Moyer, 357 Pa. 181 [53 A.2d 736, 741], held that the defendant had been properly convicted of murder of the first degree, and said (52 N.W.2d 204): "When a defendant deliberately engenders an affray, deliberately using therein a lethal weapon, it must be considered to be within his intent that death should result from the affray as a natural and probable consequence of his acts, where the death is directly attributable to the affray and not resulting from some independent intervening cause."
In Taylor v. State, 41 Tex.Crim.Rep. 564 [55 S.W. 961, 964], the facts were that during an attempt to rob a train one of the robbers took Johnson, a fireman on the train, from the engine to the front of the express car. While Newman and Johnson were at the express car, Buchanan, a passenger on the train, came out of a passenger coach and began firing. The robbers returned the fire. The fireman was shot and killed by a bullet fired by the passenger. The defendant objected to the charge on the ground, first, that the evidence did not show the defendant and those acting with him placed Johnson in front of the express car to have him shot, but to prevent a shooting; and second, because it was not more dangerous in front of the express car than at any other place along the line. The court stated: "The whole question here is one of causal connection. If the appellant here set in motion the cause which occasioned the death of deceased, we hold it to be a sound doctrine that he would be as culpable as if he had done the deed with his own hands." (Emphasis added.) The court then cited the following from 2 Bishop, New Criminal Law, section 424, etc.: "He whose act causes in any way, directly or indirectly, the death of another, kills him, within the meaning of the law of felonious homicide. It is a rule both of reason and the law that whenever one's will contributes to impel a physical force, whether another's, his own, or a combined force, proceeding from whatever different sources, he is responsible for the result, the same as though his hand, unaided, had produced it." (Emphasis added.) The court continued: "They [the robbers] put him [the fireman] there in order to effect the robbery, and while they required him to remain at the post assigned him, which was a place of danger, he was shot. His life was taken on account of their direct and lawless act, and they are responsible for his murder, whether it was occasioned by their own volition or by the shots of their adversaries; and their act was [176 Cal. App. 2d 340] the proximate cause of the destruction of his life, and they cannot escape the consequences."
In Wilson v. State, 188 Ark. 846 [68 S.W.2d 100, 102], the defendants were charged with the murder of a bank teller. In effecting their escape after robbing a bank they forced the teller to accompany them in an attempt to shield themselves from an attack by the town marshal. The town marshal accidentally killed the teller when shooting at the robbers. It was held the defendants were guilty of murder both at common law and under the statute.
"The plaintiff in error [defendant] contends that the shot which killed Souders was fired by Souders himself; that for that reason the plaintiff in error cannot be responsible for murder, and that instructions asked on the subject of manslaughter should have been given. ... [I]f it be admitted that Souders shot himself in the struggle for the gun, such a result might reasonably have been anticipated when he started to rob at the point of a revolver. There was no evidence which required the giving of instructions on the subject of manslaughter."
In People v. Manriquez, 188 Cal. 602 [206 P. 63, 20 A.L.R. 1441], the facts were that a homicide resulted from the attempt of the defendant and two others to rob a store. The defendant testified that as soon as he "put his gun on him [the Chinese proprietor] ... he tried to grab it. ... When the Chinaman grabbed at me, the pistol went off, and he went down, and I ran out." Although the immediate force which caused the revolver to go off was supplied by the victim in grabbing the gun, the defendant and his accomplices were [176 Cal. App. 2d 342] held to be guilty of murder in the first degree and their conviction was affirmed.
"[I]t is well settled that one who kills another under such circumstances is guilty of murder of the first degree by force of the statute, altogether regardless of any question of intent. The killing may be wilful, deliberate and premeditated, or it may be absolutely accidental; in either case the slayer is equally guilty since the statute applies to all homicide so committed, not merely to such as might be planned as a part of the execution of the felony intended; and it is proper so to instruct the jury."
The court distinguished People v. Ferlin, 203 Cal. 587 [265 P. 230], and People v. Garippo, 292 Ill. 293 [127 N.E. 75], relied on by defendants, saying (p. 59): "In support of their position appellants cite People v. Ferlin, 203 Cal. 587 [264 P. 230], but an examination of the factual situation therein shows it is entirely different from the one here presented, for the reason that there the coconspirator killed himself while he alone was perpetrating the felony he conspired to commit; whereas, here the coconspirator was killed by one of his confederates while all were perpetrating the crime they conspired to commit. To be more specific, the facts of that case were these: The defendant Ferlin hired a young man named Skala to destroy an insured building by fire, and while starting the fire with gasoline (Ferlin not being present) Skala burned himself so severely he died shortly afterwards from the effects of the burns. Ferlin was charged with and found guilty of arson, murder, and destruction of an insured building. The trial court granted a new trial on the murder conviction, and in sustaining the order on appeal, it was held in substance and effect that inasmuch as Skala killed himself Ferlin could not be held criminally responsible for his death. In the present case Ancheta did not kill himself and no one makes any such claim. The shot that killed him was fired, as the evidence shows, by Dasalla, a coconspirator, and the fatal shooting occurred during the perpetration of a robbery. Therefore the case falls clearly within the provisions of said section 189; and under the doctrine of the authorities above [176 Cal. App. 2d 343] cited, not only Dasalla, who did the shooting, but all who participated with him in the perpetration of the robbery were guilty of first degree murder regardless of whether Dasalla fired the shot intentionally or accidentally. Nor is the case of People v. Garippo, 292 Ill. 293 [127 N.E. 75], cited in the Ferlin case and upon which the appellants also rely, in point for the reason that there the evidence failed to show that the shot that killed the coconspirator was fired by any of his confederates. According to the opinion, it was fired by some person unknown, and the decision exculpating the coconspirators was apparently placed on that ground. Here, as stated, there was direct evidence to the effect that Ancheta was shot by Dasalla."
People v. Garippo, supra,was also distinguished from the present factual situation in Commonwealth v. Almeida, supra, 362 Pa. 596 [68 A.2d 595, 12 A.L.R.2d 183].
In People v. Chavez, 37 Cal. 2d 656 [234 P.2d 632], the court stated (p. 669): "In his argument, Chavez erroneously assumes that to bring a homicide within the terms of section 189 of the Penal Code, the killing must have occurred 'while committing,' 'while engaged in,' or 'in pursuance' of the named felonies, and that the killing must have been 'a part of' the felony or attempted felony 'in an actual and material sense, and have resulted as a natural and probable consequence thereof.' The law of this state has never required proof of a strict causal relationship between the felony and the homicide. The statute was adopted for the protection of the community and its residents, not for the benefit of the lawbreaker, and this court has viewed it as obviating the necessity for, rather than requiring, any technical inquiry concerning whether there has been a completion, abandonment, or desistence of the fenoly before the homicide was completed.
"In People v. Boss, 210 Cal. 245, 252, 253 [290 P. 881], this court said that the felony murder rule '... was adopted to make punishment of this class of crime more certain. It was not intended to relieve the wrongdoer from any probable consequences of his act by placing a limitation upon the res gestae which is unreasonable or unnatural.' The homicide is committed in the perpetration of the felony if the killing and felony are parts of one continuous transaction. (People v. Miller, 121 Cal. 343 [53 P. 816].)"
Two illustrations from the Restatement of Torts are apposite: Illustration 2, comment (c) of § 445: "A incites a mob to attack a jail in order to lynch B, a prisoner therein. [176 Cal. App. 2d 344] C, one of the wardens, in resisting the attack fires on the mob. One of the bullets goes astray and enters the kitchen window of a nearby house, causing harm to D who is cooking supper therein. C's action is not a superseding cause of D's harm."
If D was killed why should not A be held criminally responsible?
Illustration 3, comment (c) of § 445: "A attacks B upon the street. B raises his cane to ward off A's attack. In so doing he strikes C, a fellow traveler. A's attack upon B is the legal cause of the harm sustained by C."
If such is the law, and it is, why should not the actions of Harrison and his confederates be held to be the legal cause of the death of Williams? Firing a pistol to "ward off an attack" by bandits is in law no different from raising a cane to "ward off" an attack.
New York cases cited by defendants are not helpful. There the definition of felony-murder as "the killing of a human being ... is murder in the first degree, when committed ... by a person engaged in the commission of, or attempt to commit a felony, either upon or affecting the person killed or otherwise ..." differs from the definition in section 189 of the Penal Code. The New York statute limits the doctrine of felony-murder by its restrictive wording, "by a person." The difference between the Pennsylvania and New York decisions on what appear to be similar facts results not from conflicting fundamental theories of causation in crimes as from the dissimilarity in the statutory definitions of felony- murder, particularly with respect to identification of the act which shall be considered the crime (i.e., the legal cause).
"In the Massachusetts opinion the following question is put: 'Suppose, for example, a burglar attempts to break into a dwelling house, and the owner or occupant, while striving to resist and prevent the unlawful entrance by misadventure kills his own servant. Can the burglar in such case be deemed guilty of criminal homicide?' The Massachusetts court answered: 'Certainly not.' That conclusion is without support in common sense and is inconsistent with sound public policy. Where a burglar or kidnapper breaks into a man's home with the intent to steal property therein or to kidnap a child and [176 Cal. App. 2d 345] while so engaged opens fire upon the occupants, and the man of the house returns the fire in an attempt to defend his family, and by mischance he kill his wife or his child, or his servant, the invading felon is morally and legally responsible for that homicide. In Pennsylvania and in other jurisdictions such a felon would be adjudged guilty of murder in the first degree. His malicious act would be the proximate cause of the homicide."
 We think the better reasoning is that of the authorities to which we have referred, to the effect that the doctrine of proximate cause is applicable in criminal proceedings in determining responsibility for a person's acts; that where it reasonably might or should have been foreseen by the accused that the commission of or the attempt to commit the contemplated felony would be likely to create a situation which would expose another to the danger of death at the hands of a nonparticipant in the felony, the creation of such situation is the proximate cause of the death; and that the killing is murder of the first degree committed by the accused.
 No one disputes the fact that the shooting of Williams resulted directly from the attempted robbery and from Jones' resistance to defendant Harrison. It makes no difference that defendants could not know in advance the precise course of events that would follow when they attempted the robbery. Their attempted robbery set in motion a chain of events which were, or should have been, within their contemplation when the motion was initiated. It was a normal human response for Jones, one of the victims of the attempted robbery, who was shot at by Harrison, to return the fire. The shooting at Harrison was the natural result of defendants' acts. The killing of Williams was the natural, foreseeable result of the initial act. The attempted robbery was the proximate cause of the death. We can see no sound reason for distinction merely because Williams was killed by a shot from the gun of Jones, fired at Harrison in self-defense. The killing was murder and it was committed in the perpetration of attempted robbery within the meaning of Penal Code, section 189.
Defendant Asberry asserts the court erred in admitting in evidence an incriminating statement he made to officers. He argues that the corpus delicti of murder was not proved, hence his statement was inadmissible. Since we have held that the corpus delicti was proved, the point is not well taken. Further, the attempts to commit robbery were proved and the statement [176 Cal. App. 2d 346] was admissible for the purpose of connecting Asberry with those offenses.
The judgments and the orders denying new trials are affirmed.
Shinn, P. J., and Ford, J., concurred.

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