Opinion ID: 775280
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts and Guilt Phase Proceedings

Text: 2 On September 12, 1978, Seng Nancy Huynh left her home and drove to downtown Sacramento where she was scheduled to work the swing shift at the California Employment Development Department. Shortly after 3:00 p.m. on that day, Ainsworth and Donald Gene Bayles walked onto the public parking lot where Huynh was parking her car. Because Ainsworth did not take the stand, the following narrative is largely based on the testimony of his co-defendant Bayles. As the district court noted, Bayles shifted all blame for Huynh's death to Ainsworth. 3 Ainsworth shouted come on, there's one over there, at which point Ainsworth left Bayles and approached Huynh's car. Bayles then heard a pop sound. When Bayles approached Huynh's car he discovered Ainsworth sitting in the driver's seat with Huynh sitting beside him. Bayles got into the front passenger's seat next to Huynh and Ainsworth drove the car out of the parking lot. 4 Ainsworth had shot Huynh in the left hip with a .45 caliber handgun. The bullet passed through Huynh's pelvis and lodged against her right hip. During the next twenty-four hours, Bayles testified that he and Ainsworth confined Huynh to the car while they drove around using money from Huynh's purse to purchase beer and gasoline. The two men ignored Huynh's repeated pleas for help. At one point, Bayles put Huynh in the trunk of the car because the men were tired of hearing Huynh moan and cry. Later the men removed Huynh from the trunk and placed her in the back seat of the car. Bayles testified that Ainsworth raped Huynh. (The California Supreme Court held that it was error to admit testimony concerning the rape, but held that the error was harmless.) 1 5 Approximately twenty-four hours after being shot, Huynh died in the vehicle. Ainsworth and Bayles dumped her body in a wooded area and drove towards San Francisco. Along the way they picked up a hitchhiker. After dropping the hitch-hiker off in downtown San Francisco, Ainsworth and Bayles abandoned the car and went their separate ways. 6 Two days after Huynh's disappearance, police discovered her car in Pacifica, California, less than one mile from Ainsworth's residence. Inside the vehicle, police found a .45 caliber shell casing. Human blood was found on the rear seat cushions and on paper bags in the trunk. Several items found in and near the car had Ainsworth's and Bayles's fingerprints on them. 7 On the morning of September 16, 1978, police discovered Huynh's purse and brassiere on the ground at an interchange area off Interstate 5. In the purse, police found a time card bearing Huynh's signature and Bayles's fingerprints. On January 20, 1979, nearly four months after Huynh's disappearance, police arrested Bayles. Bayles led authorities to a clearing approximately seven miles south of Elk Creek, California. There police found Huynh's body behind a log, covered by a 55-gallon drum. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition. 8 Police arrested Ainsworth in May of 1979. Ainsworth and Bayles were charged with first degree murder with two special circumstances, kidnapping and robbery. The State tried the defendants jointly. Ainsworth did not take the stand. 9 On January 2, 1980, Ainsworth was found guilty of first degree murder. The jury also found to be true the special circumstances allegations of robbery and kidnapping. Bayles was found guilty of second degree murder.