Opinion ID: 2551919
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence of First Degree Murder of Monique Hilton

Text: Defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to establish that the murder of Monique Hilton was murder of the first degree. We disagree. The prosecution argued alternative theories of premeditated murder and felony murder, relying on the statutory provision that a murder is of the first degree if it is a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or a killing committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate ... robbery. ...(§ 189.) To determine the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, an appellate court reviews the entire record in the light most favorable to the prosecution to determine whether it contains evidence that is reasonable, credible, and of solid value, from which a rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. ( People v. Marshall (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1, 34, 61 Cal.Rptr.2d 84, 931 P.2d 262; People v. Wader (1993) 5 Cal.4th 610, 640, 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 788, 854 P.2d 80.) We apply this standard in determining the sufficiency of the evidence to establish premeditation and deliberation as elements of first degree murder. ( People v. Perez (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1117, 1124-1125, 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 577, 831 P.2d 1159.) Evidence concerning motive, planning, and the manner of killing are pertinent to the determination of premeditation and deliberation, but these factors are not exclusive nor are they invariably determinative. ( Id. at pp. 1125-1126, 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 577, 831 P.2d 1159.) Defendant concedes that he killed Monique Hilton, and that he did so intentionally, but he maintains that he did not intend to rob her and that the killing was an impulsive, unplanned act. He relies on statements he made during the tape-recorded interview with investigating officers. In that interview, he said he drove Monique Hilton out to the desert because he wanted to find out whether the body of Walter Sanders had been discovered. He then changed his mind and stopped the car intending to confront Monique Hilton. He did not want to take her money but he wanted to find out if she had been lying to him and taking advantage of him when she said she had no money and persuaded him to buy food and clothing for her. He thought she was still lying to him when she continued to deny that she had any money, and in a fit of anger he shot and killed her. The jury was not required to accept this version of events. A rational trier of fact could disbelieve those portions of defendant's statements that were obviously self-serving, particularly in light of defendant's expressed concern, both during the interview with the officers and in his telephone conversation with Anita Rinker, that he could receive the death penalty. A rational trier of fact could reject as implausible defendant's explanation that he drove Monique Hilton, a relative stranger and a person whom he admitted he did not trust, down a dirt road in a relatively isolated desert area to look for the body of someone he had recently killed. A rational trier of fact could infer instead that defendant selected this location because it was a place where no potential witnesses or rescuers could see them or hear Monique Hilton's cries for help and the sounds of a shotgun firing. In other words, a rational trier of fact could infer that defendant took Hilton to the place where she died because he had already formed the intent to rob or to kill her, or to both rob and kill her. Thus, the murder's isolated location, selected by defendant, is itself evidence of planning. Defendant's statements that he believed Hilton had lied to him about having no money and had taken advantage of him in persuading him to spend his money on her are evidence of motive. The manner of killingmultiple shotgun wounds inflicted on an unarmed and defenseless victim who posed no threat to defendantis entirely consistent with a premeditated and deliberate murder. Thus, having reviewed the entire record in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that it contains ample evidence to sustain the verdict of first degree murder on a theory of premeditation and deliberation. We conclude as well that the record contains ample evidence to sustain the verdict of first degree murder on a theory of a killing during an actual or attempted robbery. A rational trier of fact could reject as implausible defendant's assertion that although he suspected that Monique Hilton had lied when she said she had no money, and had taken advantage of him by persuading him to buy things for her, and although he demanded that Hilton show him her money, and reinforced the demand by brandishing his shotgun, and although he had purchased the shotgun for use in committing robberies, he had no intent to take her money by force or intended to take only enough to reimburse himself for what he had spent for her food and clothing (see People v. Sakarias (2000) 22 Cal.4th 596, 622-623, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 17, 995 P.2d 152). A rational trier of fact could infer instead that defendant's intent was to take any money or other thing of value that Hilton might have, and that he killed her while attempting to carry out this intent.