Opinion ID: 2630185
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Challenges to the Finding on the Robbery-murder Special-circumstance Allegation

Text: Defendant contends the jury's finding on the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation violates his right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because insufficient evidence supported it. Specifically, he contends there was no support in the record for the first two elements of a robbery, namely, that at the time of the shooting Gitmed was in possession of any personal property and that defendant or Mercurio took any property from him. Defendant further contends there was no substantial evidence of defendant's conduct or mental state as an aider and abettor or of a relationship between the murder and the robbery. As defendant acknowledges, these contentions are identical to those discussed above, about the asserted insufficiency of the evidence to support a theory of felony murder based on robbery, and we reject them for the same reasons discussed there. In this part, we discuss and reject defendant's contentions based on the statutory language of the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation. (16) Section 190.2, subdivision (d) provides that, for the purposes of those special circumstances based on the enumerated felonies in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a), which includes robbery, an aider and abettor must have been a major participant and have acted with reckless indifference to human life. [15] (ง 190.2, subd. (d); 1 Witkin & Epstein, Cal. Criminal Law (3d ed. 2000) Introduction to Crimes, ง 110, p. 167; see 3 Witkin & Epstein, Cal. Criminal Law, supra, Punishment, ง 460, pp. 613-614.) Repeating his earlier argument, defendant contends the split verdict means the jury found he was not the actual killer, and it therefore must have found the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation true based on his aider and abettor liability. Defendant contends the record contains insufficient evidence to support his liability as an aider and abettor under section 190.2, subdivision (d). For the reasons previously discussed, we reject defendant's contention that the split verdict means the jury convicted him on an aider and abettor theory. But even assuming the jury found the special circumstance allegation true on that theory, we conclude there was substantial evidence to support the conclusion that defendant was an aider and abettor who, at the least, was a major participant who acted with reckless indifference to human life. As discussed, the evidence supports the conclusion that, after defendant brought Gitmed to the compound, defendant and Mercurio jointly maneuvered to bring Gitmed to an isolated spot at Canyon Lake where both participated in the robbery and murder. The evidence of defendant's actions both before and after the murder supports the conclusion defendant intended to obtain Gitmed's possessions by killing him or having Mercurio kill him. Defendant points to the requirement of section 190.2, subdivision (a)(17) that the murder must have been committed during the commission of the underlying felony, which we have interpreted to mean that, when the underlying felony is only incidental to the murder, the murder cannot be said to have been committed in the commission of the related offense. ( People v. Williams (1988) 44 Cal.3d 883, 927 [245 Cal.Rptr. 336, 751 P.2d 395].) Defendant contends it is at least reasonably probable that items were taken from Gitmed to prevent identification of his body, and therefore the robbery was only incidental to the murder. But as discussed above, substantial evidence supports the conclusion that Gitmed had been robbed and that defendant had planned to rob him as part of a larger plan to obtain his possessions after killing him. When the evidence supports the jury's findings, a reviewing court may not reverse the judgment because the evidence might also support a contrary finding. ( People v. Ceja, supra, 4 Cal.4th at p. 1139.) Defendant's claim therefore fails.
(17) Defendant contends the prosecutor engaged in misconduct in closing argument by making erroneous or misleading comments about the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation. Defense counsel did not object in any of the instances that defendant challenges, and thus all appellate claims based on them are forfeited. [16] ( People v. Alfaro, supra, 41 Cal.4th at p. 1328.) We also reject defendant's contentions on the merits. When a claim of misconduct is based on the prosecutor's comments before the jury, as are all of defendant's claims here, `the question is whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury construed or applied any of the complained-of remarks in an objectionable fashion.' ( People v. Smithey, supra, 20 Cal.4th at p. 960.) As discussed below, we conclude there is no reasonable likelihood the jury so construed any of the prosecutor's challenged comments. First, defendant challenges the prosecutor's rather oblique statement that [t]he only difference between concluding that the defendant premeditated and there was a deliberate murder of Ron Gitmed by the defendant is by the special circumstance. Defendant contends the prosecutor meant there were two kinds of murder for the jury to consider, premeditated murder and felony murder, and the difference between them was the special circumstance. What the prosecutor meant is unclear, but we see no prejudice. The trial court properly instructed the jury on the law of murder and the special circumstance allegation. There was thus no reasonable likelihood the jury construed or applied the oblique statement in an objectionable fashion. ( People v. Smithey, supra, 20 Cal.4th at p. 960.) Second, defendant challenges the prosecutor's statement that [i]f you conclude that what Tony Mercurio said was accurate, that the defendant robbed Ron Gitmed and shot and killed him, the special circumstance is very straightforward. Defendant argues this statement was misleading because the evidence might have established that the robbery was only incidental to the murder, in which case the special circumstance would not apply. But the prosecutor was arguing his interpretation of the evidence, which was that the evidence showed either that defendant shot Gitmed during the commission of a robbery or, alternatively, that defendant was a major participant who aided and abetted the robbery with reckless indifference to human life. (See ง 190.2, subds. (a)(17)(A), (d).) The prosecutor correctly explained that either theory of liability (direct perpetrator, or aider and abettor) allowed a true finding for the special circumstance allegation, but he described the former as straightforward and the latter as trickier, meaning that aider and abettor liability involved a more complicated legal concept for the jury to grasp. We see nothing objectionable in the prosecutor's statement. Third, defendant challenges the prosecutor's statement that, if the jury believed Mercurio was an accomplice, [t]his is where felony murder comes back into play. Because if Tony Mercurio's an accomplice and he's just as involved as the defendant, under the felony-murder rule the defendant is still guilty of murder, if you find that the defendant aided and abetted in the commission of the robbery. Defendant claims this misstates aider and abettor liability for the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation. But defendant's claim is inapposite because the prosecutor was explaining aider and abettor liability for felony murder, not for the special circumstance. Fourth, defendant challenges the prosecutor's statement that [n]o matter how you approach Tony Mercurio or how you approach the evidence, the only way that you can find that the defendant is not guilty of murder is that if you conclude that he had absolutely nothing to do with it and his name was picked out of the air by [the prosecution witnesses]. Defendant contends this comment, and other similar comments the prosecutor made, amounted to the argument that a robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation is a strict liability offense, that is, if a defendant is present when a robbery and killing happens, the special circumstance is true. But the prosecutor never argued that the jury should find the special circumstance allegation to be true simply because defendant was present at the scene of the robbery and murder. The prosecutor argued the evidence showed that defendant was not only present at the robbery and murder, but was, at least, an aider and abettor and, most likely, the actual shooter. Finally, defendant repeats his contention regarding the murder conviction, discussed above, that the prosecutor misleadingly referred to Gitmed's car and duffel bag (both of which defendant apparently took after the robbery) as evidence establishing the predicate offense of robbery for felony murder. Defendant contends the prosecutor's comments were equally misleading for establishing the elements of the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation. We reject his contention here for the same reason discussed above, namely, the prosecutor never argued the car and the bag were items taken during the robbery.