Source: http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-robertson-33451
Timestamp: 2015-09-01 18:04:56
Document Index: 799153812

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 246', '§ 187', '§ 245', '§ 1203', '§ 12022', '§ 12022', '§ 187', '§ 189', '§ 189', '§ 187', '§ 188', '§ 192', '§ 189', '§ 246', '§ 197', '§ 246']

People v. Robertson - S118034 - Thu, 08/19/2004 | California Supreme Court Resources	Stanford Law School - Robert Crown Law Library
Home > Opinions > People v. Robertson	Docket No. S118034
Filed 8/19/04 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, S118034 v. Ct.App. A095055 QUINCY ROBERTSON, Alameda County Defendant and Appellant. Super. Ct. No. C135605 In this case we must determine whether the trial court properly instructed the jury that defendant could be convicted of second degree felony murder based upon the predicate offense of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner (Pen Code, § 246.3),1 or whether the second degree felony-murder rule was inapplicable under the so-called merger doctrine referred to in People v. Ireland (1969) 70 Cal.2d 522 (Ireland) and later cases. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the merger doctrine did not bar instruction on second degree murder based upon a felony-murder theory. Although the Court of Appeal majority reached a contrary conclusion, it nonetheless affirmed the judgment of conviction, finding harmless any error on the part of the trial court in instructing 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise indicated. 1
the jury that it could convict defendant under a second degree felony-murder theory. Because we conclude the trial court did not err in instructing the jury, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal upholding defendant’s conviction. I Defendant Quincy Robertson was convicted of second degree murder (§ 187) and committing assault with a deadly weapon and by means of force likely to inflict great bodily injury. (§ 245, subd. (a)(1).) The jury found true the following allegations: that defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of these offenses (§§ 1203.06, 12022.5); that, in connection with the murder charge, he intentionally discharged a firearm, proximately causing great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)); and that, in connection with the assault charge, he inflicted great bodily injury (§ 12022.7). The court sentenced defendant to a term of 15 years to life in prison for the murder, with an enhancement of 25 years to life pursuant to section 12022.53, subdivision (d). The court also sentenced him to a concurrent term of eight years in prison for the assault offense, enhanced by the firearm-use and great-bodily-injury findings. During the evening of December 27, 1998, the victims Kehinde Riley and Ricky Harris, joined by Bradley Gentry and Lamont Benton, imbibed alcohol and used marijuana and cocaine while they went for a drive in Benton’s automobile. At approximately 10:30 p.m., they stopped in front of defendant’s residence on 99th Avenue Court in Oakland. Riley and Harris approached defendant’s automobile, a Chevrolet Caprice Classic, which was parked in front of defendant’s residence. According to Benton’s testimony at trial, while Gentry and Benton looked on, Riley and Harris began removing the vehicle’s hubcaps, making loud noises in the process. They had removed the passenger side hubcaps and were turning to the driver side hubcaps when defendant emerged onto the porch of his residence. 2
According to statements subsequently made by defendant to the police, he had been watching television with his wife and children, heard a loud noise and, retrieving a firearm, went outside to investigate. Defendant denied any involvement in the shooting in his initial statement. After gunshot residue was discovered on his right hand, defendant claimed he had fired a weapon earlier in the day to demonstrate its operation for a prospective buyer. Following further interrogation, defendant explained that upon hearing a sound outside, he looked out and observed three or four men near his automobile, apparently engaged either in dismantling it or stealing it. Defendant recalled that the men looked at him in a threatening manner, and he was uncertain whether they would attempt to enter his residence. In his final statement to the police, defendant claimed that when he emerged from his residence, he held his gun at a 45-degree angle and fired two warning shots. The physical evidence, however, indicated that three shots had been fired. A bullet hole discovered in the windshield of defendant’s automobile and two other bullet holes found two feet from ground level in a vehicle that was parked across the street tended to disprove defendant’s claim that he had held the gun at a 45-degree angle. Benton testified at trial that immediately following defendant’s discharge of the weapon from the porch, Benton and Gentry drove away, while Riley and Harris attempted to flee on foot. Benton testified he heard from seven to nine additional gunshots as he drove away. Defendant, claiming he had heard a sound that resembled either a car backfire or the discharge of a firearm, admitted in his final statement to the police that he had walked at least as far as the sidewalk and possibly into the street before firing three shots at the fleeing men. He denied intending that the shots hit the men and claimed that he fired upwards into the air, intending, as he said, to “scare people away from my domain.” He conceded that 3
firing a weapon in a residential neighborhood was dangerous to human life, but said he had not been thinking clearly. Riley’s body was discovered approximately 50 yards from where gun casings indicated the firearm had been discharged. It appeared the shots had been fired by a person standing in the middle of the street in front of defendant’s residence. Riley had been shot in the back of the head. Harris suffered a gunshot wound to the sole of his right foot. On the night of the incident, one of defendant’s neighbors heard shots and witnessed a person standing in a “firing stance” in the street, firing shot after shot straight ahead and on each occasion correcting for the weapon’s “kickback.” The neighbor witnessed this person “swagger” back to the apartment complex where defendant resided. One bullet casing was discovered on the porch of defendant’s residence, two additional casings at the bottom of the stairs leading to defendant’s apartment, and seven casings in the middle of the street in front of defendant’s residence. Based upon the location of the bullet casings found in the street, the physical features of the surrounding neighborhood, and the location at which Riley and Harris were discovered after the shooting, the prosecution’s ballistics expert testified that if the person who fired the weapon had held it at a 45-degree angle, he or she would not have struck the victims. This witness testified that in his opinion, the shooter must have pointed the weapon at the victims. Character witnesses who testified in favor of defendant asserted that he was not a violent person, nor was he prone to anger. He enjoyed working on cars and was engaged in restoring his Chevrolet Caprice Classic for resale. Defendant’s wife testified that during the time they resided on 99th Avenue Court, at least three of the family’s vehicles had been broken into or vandalized. 4
Defendant’s nephew recounted an episode in which defendant had been the victim of a shooting. The episode occurred six months prior to the charged crimes, following an automobile accident involving this nephew and the driver of another vehicle. After an argument erupted between the nephew and the other driver and while defendant was attempting to subdue his nephew, someone from the other vehicle fired on them, seriously injuring defendant’s right arm. A clinical psychologist testified in defendant’s behalf, expressing the opinion that defendant suffered from posttraumatic stress syndrome as a result of this and other incidents, that this condition caused defendant to be fearful and easily aroused emotionally, and that defendant likely had acted impulsively, without forethought, when he fired on the victims. A ballistics expert testified on behalf of defendant, stating that persons lacking experience in shooting firearms tend to shoot in a manner that causes them to strike objects below their intended target. In connection with the homicide charge, the jury was instructed on first degree murder, second degree murder with express malice, second degree murder with implied malice, second degree felony murder based on commission of the crime of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, and voluntary manslaughter. The defense argued that, at most, defendant might be liable for voluntary manslaughter on the theory that he acted in the heat of passion or from an honest but unreasonable belief in the need to defend himself. The jury deliberated for three days. At that point, a juror who complained of debilitating stress arising from asserted conflict among the deliberating jurors was excused. The juror was replaced by an alternate, and the jury deliberated for an additional three days prior to rendering its verdict. Defendant appealed, asserting, among other contentions, that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on second degree felony murder based upon the 5
predicate offense of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, because, under the teaching of Ireland, supra, 70 Cal.2d 522, the latter offense necessarily merged with the homicide. A majority of the Court of Appeal agreed, but determined that the error was harmless because, in view of the particular instructions given in the present case, the verdict finding defendant guilty of the aggravated assault on Harris also demonstrated that the jury necessarily rejected defendant’s primary argument that when he shot the victims, he merely intended to frighten them away from his residence. The remaining justice concurred in the judgment only, concluding that it was unnecessary for the court to comment on the merger doctrine, because any error was harmless. II We must determine whether the trial court erred by instructing the jury that defendant could be found guilty of second degree felony murder if the killing was committed in the course of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner in violation of section 246.3. The resolution of this question requires a brief review of the elements of various homicide offenses, the second degree felony-murder doctrine, and the merger doctrine. Murder is defined as an unlawful killing committed with malice aforethought. (§ 187, subd. (a).) An unlawful killing with malice aforethought, perpetrated by certain specified means or that is willful, deliberate, and premeditated, constitutes murder in the first degree. (§ 189.) A killing in the course of the commission of certain enumerated felonies also constitutes murder in the first degree. (§ 189.) Second degree murder is an unlawful killing with malice aforethought, but without the elements that elevate an unlawful killing to first degree murder. (§§ 187, subd. (a), 189; People v. Hansen (1994) 9 Cal.4th 300, 307 (Hansen).) In addition, an unlawful killing in the course of the commission of a felony that is 6
inherently dangerous to human life but is not included among the felonies enumerated in section 189, constitutes at least murder in the second degree. (People v. Ford (1964) 60 Cal.2d 772, 795.) Malice may be express or implied. Malice is express “when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature.” (§ 188.) It is implied “when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.” (Ibid.) More specifically, “malice is implied ‘when the killing results from an intentional act, the natural consequences of which are dangerous to life, which act was deliberately performed by a person who knows that his conduct endangers the life of another and who acts with conscious disregard for life.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Lasko (2000) 23 Cal.4th 101, 107.) An unlawful killing may constitute manslaughter rather than murder even in the presence of intent to kill or conscious disregard for life, however, if the defendant killed in a “sudden quarrel or heat of passion” (§ 192, subd. (a); People v. Lasko, supra, 23 Cal.4th at pp. 108, 110-111) or in an unreasonable but good faith belief in the need to act in self defense. (People v. Blakeley (2000) 23 Cal.4th 82, 89, 91.) The felony-murder rule eliminates the need for proof of malice in connection with a charge of murder, thereby rendering irrelevant the presence or absence of actual malice, both with regard to first degree felony murder and second degree felony murder. (Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 308; People v. Patterson (1989) 49 Cal.3d 615, 626; Ireland, supra, 70 Cal.2d at pp. 538, 539.) As we have explained: “Implied malice, for which the second degree felony-
murder doctrine acts as a substitute [fn. omitted], has both a physical and a mental component. . . . The mental component is the requirement that the defendant ‘knows that his conduct endangers the life of another and . . . acts with a conscious disregard for life.’ [Citation.] [¶] The second degree felony-murder rule 7
eliminates the need for the prosecution to establish the mental component.” (People v. Patterson, supra, 49 Cal.3d at p. 626, italics omitted.) Because malice has been eliminated as an element, circumstances that may serve to reduce the crime from murder to manslaughter, such as provocation or imperfect self-defense, are not relevant in the case of a felony murder. (People v. Seaton (2001) 26 Cal.4th 598, 665; In re Christian S. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 768, 773, fn. 1; People v. Balderas (1985) 41 Cal.3d 144, 197 [provocation and heat of passion cannot reduce a felony murder to manslaughter, because “ ‘malice,’ the mental state which otherwise distinguishes murder from voluntary manslaughter, is not an element of felony murder”]; People v. Ford, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 795 [unlawful killing in the course of an inherently dangerous felony cannot constitute manslaughter but constitutes at least second degree murder]; Ireland, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 539 & fn. 13 [but for the merger doctrine, a second degree felony-
murder instruction that correctly stated the law would permit the jury to disregard the defendant’s diminished capacity defense]; People v. Tabios (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1, 8-9 [claim of imperfect self-defense is irrelevant to the charge of second degree felony murder]; People v. Anderson (1991) 233 Cal.App.3d 1646, 1666; People v. Loustaunau (1986) 181 Cal.App.3d 163, 170.) A principal purpose of the felony-murder rule is deterrence. Case law has emphasized the need to deter the commission of felonies that put human life at risk (Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at pp. 310, 311, 314; People v. Satchell (1971) 6 Cal.3d 28, 42-43, disapproved on another ground in People v. Flood (1998) 18 Cal.4th 470) [the doctrine is intended to deter felonious acts “in which danger to human life is inherent”]; People v. Clem (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 346, 349), and also the need to deter persons who commit such felonies from committing negligent or accidental killings in the course of these felonies. (Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at pp. 308, 310, 315; People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 349.) 8
The first degree felony-murder rule is a creation of statute. (§ 189.) The second degree felony-murder rule is a common law doctrine. In the case of a second degree felony-murder charge, the inherent danger to human life posed by the defendant’s unlawful conduct serves to justify the conclusion that proof of actual malice should not be required. (Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 308; People v. Satchell, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 43.) We have explained that “when society has declared certain inherently dangerous conduct to be felonious, a defendant should not be allowed to excuse himself by saying he was unaware of the danger to life . . . .” (People v. Patterson, supra, 49 Cal.3d at p. 626.) The second degree felony-murder doctrine is limited to inherently dangerous felonies because, in the absence of such danger, it would be less justifiable to remove the element of malice from the prosecutor’s burden of proof. (Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 308; People v. Satchell, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 43.) “[O]nly felonies ‘inherently dangerous to human life’ are sufficiently indicative of a defendant’s culpable mens rea to warrant application of the felony-murder rule.” (Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 314.) The commission of an inherently dangerous felony indicates that the killing was “tinged with malevolence.” (People v. Burroughs (1984) 35 Cal.3d 824, 832.) The doctrine is limited to inherently dangerous felonies for the additional reason that the hazard to life presented by such felonies is foreseeable. When the danger is foreseeable, it is rational to expect a felon to take precautions not to kill accidentally or negligently — or to forgo commission of the hazardous felony altogether. (See Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at pp. 308, 314.) A defendant is unlikely to be deterred if it is not reasonably foreseeable to him or her that “ ‘ “death might arise solely from the fact that he [or she] will commit the felony.” ’ ” (Id. at p. 308.) 9
A felony is considered inherently dangerous to human life when the felony, viewed in the abstract, “by its very nature . . . cannot be committed without creating a substantial risk that someone will be killed” (People v. Burroughs, supra, 35 Cal.3d at p. 833), or carries a “ ‘high probability’ that death will result.’ ” (People v. Patterson, supra, 49 Cal.3d at p. 627; see also Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at pp. 309, 329 (conc. & dis. opn. of Kennard, J. [observing that a felony may carry a high probability that death will result even though death may not result in “a majority, or even in a great percentage, of instances”]); People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 349 [“ ‘ “[h]igh probability” ’ in this context does not mean a ‘ “greater than 50 percent” ’ chance”].) In the present case, as we previously noted, the court instructed the jury on first degree murder, second degree murder with express malice, second degree murder with implied malice, second degree felony murder, and voluntary manslaughter. For the purpose of the second degree felony-murder rule, it instructed that the predicate felony was the discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, which is defined as follows: “Except as otherwise authorized by law, any person who willfully discharges a firearm in a grossly negligent manner which could result in injury or death to a person is guilty of a public offense and shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.” (§ 246.3.)2 Section 246.3 was enacted primarily to deter the dangerous practice that exists in some communities of discharging firearms into the air in celebration of 2 The question whether an offense that may be punished either as a felony or a misdemeanor may serve as the basis for a felony-murder instruction has not been raised in this case. (See People v. Satchell, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 35, fn. 13 [it is appropriate to rely upon such a predicate offense in a second degree felony-murder prosecution]; see also People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 350, fn. 2.) 10
festive occasions. (People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 350; People v. Alonzo (1993) 13 Cal.App.4th 535, 539-540 [referring to the crime as constituting a reckless act that endangers the public directly and that also generates the risk of responsive gunfire].) Section 246.3 requires proof that the defendant intended to discharge the firearm. (In re Jerry R. (1994) 29 Cal.App.4th 1432, 1437, 1438-1440.) A defendant who believed that the firearm he or she discharged was unloaded, for example, would not be guilty of a violation of section 246.3. (Id. at p. 1440.) In addition, there are circumstances in which the discharge of a firearm is not unlawful, even if the act entails a risk of serious harm to other persons. One may be privileged to employ force, including that involved in the discharge of a firearm, in defense of oneself or another or of property, under defined circumstances. One is entitled to use such force as is reasonable under the circumstances to repel what is honestly and reasonably perceived to be a threat of imminent harm. (§§ 197, 198, 692-694; People v. Minifie (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1055, 1064-1065; People v. Myers (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 328, 334-335; CALJIC No. 9.03.3 [willful discharge of a firearm is not unlawful if executed in self-
defense or defense of another; prosecution must prove discharge is not in lawful self-defense or defense of another]; see also CALJIC Nos. 5.12 [justifiable homicide], 5.13 [same], 5.32 [legitimate use of force in defense of another]; 5.40 [defense of property — ejection of trespasser], 5.42 [resisting intruder], 5.43 [defense of property], 5.44 [presumptions arising from the defendant’s forcible entry into a home].) As for the requirement that the defendant must have discharged the firearm in a grossly negligent manner, the term is not defined by the statute, but its usual meaning in the context of establishing criminal liability is “ ‘ “aggravated, culpable, gross, or reckless . . . conduct [that is] such a departure from what would 11
be the conduct of an ordinarily prudent or careful [person] under the same circumstances as to be incompatible with a proper regard for human life . . . .” ’ ” (People v. Valdez (2002) 27 Cal.4th 778, 783.) As we have observed, “criminal negligence is the appropriate standard when the act is intrinsically lawful . . . but warrants criminal liability because the surrounding circumstances present a high risk of serious injury. Criminal negligence is not a ‘lesser state of mind’; it is a standard for determining when an act may be punished under the penal law because it is such a departure from what would be the conduct of an ordinarily prudent or careful person under the same circumstances.” (Id. at pp. 789-790.) The jury was instructed in the present case: “ ‘Gross negligence’ refers to a negligent act which is aggravated, reckless or flagrant and which is such a departure from the conduct of an ordinarily prudent, careful person under the same circumstances as to be contrary to a proper regard for human life or a danger to human life or to constitute indifference to the consequences of those acts. The facts must be such that the consequences of the negligent act could reasonably have been foreseen and it must appear that the death or danger to human life was not the result of inattention, mistaken judgment or misadventure but the natural and probable result of an aggravated, reckless or flagrantly negligent act.” (See CALJIC No. 3.36; see also People v. Penny (1955) 44 Cal.2d 861, 879; People v. Alonzo, supra, 13 Cal.App.4th at pp. 539-540 [applying this standard to a prosecution for violation of section 246.3].) Again, gross negligence is not present when the discharge of a firearm is honestly and reasonably undertaken in defense of self or another or of property. The court in People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal. App.4th 346, concluded that section 246.3 constitutes an inherently dangerous felony for the purpose of the second degree felony-murder rule (People v. Clem, supra, at pp. 353-354), and defendant does not challenge this conclusion. The appellate court quoted our 12
observation that “ ‘[t]he tragic death of innocent and often random victims . . . as the result of the discharge of firearms, has become an alarmingly common occurrence in our society — a phenomenon of enormous concern to the public’ ” (People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 351, quoting Hansen, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 311.) The court reasoned that the offense is inherently dangerous because it involves discharge of the highly lethal instrumentality of a firearm with gross negligence in a manner that “could result in injury or death to a person” (§ 246.3). It added that “ ‘[i]mminent deadly consequences [are] inherent in the act’ [citation] even if the bullet fortuitously falls so as to injure and not kill.” (People v. Clem, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at p. 353.) By its terms, the statute “presupposes that there are people in harm’s way” (id. at p. 351) and that a reasonable person in defendant’s situation would have “reasonable grounds to suspect that people will be endangered.” (Id. at p. 352.) The court concluded that “a killer who violates section 246.3 ‘is engaged in a felony whose inherent danger to human life renders logical an imputation of malice on the part of all who commit it.’ ” (Ibid.) On appeal, although defendant does not dispute that the grossly negligent discharge of a firearm in violation of section 246.3 constitutes an inherently dangerous felony for the purpose of the second degree felony-murder rule, he claims that the merger doctrine pre