Opinion ID: 1169826
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: First degree murder of Sharon Rawls

Text: (16b) The trial court instructed the jury that it could convict defendant of first degree murder if it determined that he premeditatedly and deliberately killed Sharon Rawls, or if it found, under the felony-murder rule, that he killed Rawls in the course of a robbery or an attempted rape. (§ 189.) Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for first degree murder under the felony-murder rule on the theories of either robbery murder or attempted-rape murder, and that this court must therefore reverse his murder conviction. Because, as previously explained, the evidence in this case is insufficient to support defendant's robbery conviction, it is also insufficient to support the conclusion that the murder occurred in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate a robbery. ( People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d at p. 52.) Thus, the first degree murder conviction cannot be sustained on the theory that the murder was committed in the course of robbery. The first degree murder conviction can be sustained, however, on the theory that the killing occurred in the course of an attempted rape. As we stated earlier, sufficient evidence supports defendant's conviction for attempted rape. The evidence is also sufficient to support defendant's conviction for first degree murder based on the felony of attempted rape. The condition of Sharon Rawls's body and clothing supports an inference of an ineffectual attack directed towards sexual intercourse. The sexual nature of the attack is shown by her body being found with her underwear and pants pulled down; the existence of a struggle is evidenced by the abrasions on her neck, face, and arms. The identification of defendant as the perpetrator is supported by the evidence of his having been seen in and leaving the building where Sharon Rawls was killed shortly after the murder, the fresh abrasions on his elbow and the injury to his right hand indicating participation in a struggle, and the bloodstains on his sweatshirt consistent with the victim's blood type. This evidence, combined with Rawls's screams, the gag found in her mouth, and the pathologist's testimony that she was strangled, are an ample basis upon which a rational trier of fact could find that defendant killed Rawls while engaged in the attempt to perpetrate a forcible rape. Accordingly, we conclude that defendant's first degree murder conviction is supported by substantial evidence.