Opinion ID: 1975121
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Government's Evidence in This Case

Text: The government's theory under its first degree murder charge (and the lesser-included offense of second degree murder) was that appellant as principaland not in the alternative as aider and abettormurdered Kenneth Taylor (decedent). We know that the jury hung on that count. We, however, do not know on what theory the jury convicted appellant of felony-murder. As the majority points out, the government pursued two felony-murder theories against appellant: [e]ither Theodore Taylor (aider and abetter theory) or appellant himself (as principal) then inflicted the fatal wound. Ante at 557-558. Because the jury was not instructed separately on each theory, we simply have no way of knowing on which of the two theories the jury convicted. [6] It does matter, however. As indicated in Part I, the government must meet two requirements specific to its aider and abettor theory: in addition to meeting the causal link requirement (that the principal committed the act which killed the deceased in furtherance of the underlying felony), the government must also meet the aiding and abetting and scope of shared purpose requirements. Although some of our recent decisionsincluding the majority's opinion in this casetend to obscure the distinctions between accomplice and principal felony-murder, I believe that those distinctions have not been (and should not be) erased from our law. Accordingly, I believe the most appropriate method for examining the sufficiency of the evidence on which the jury found appellant guilty of felony-murder is to examine the evidence in light of each of the government's distinct theories.
Under this theory, the government had to present legally sufficient evidence that appellant aided and abetted Theodore Taylor's armed housebreaking, D.C.Code § 22-2401, i.e., Taylor's entry into Janice Settles' apartment with intent to assault Shephard with a bat. That is the aiding and abetting requirement. See Christian, 394 A.2d at 48 (citing Heinlein, 160 U.S.App.D.C. at 167, 490 F.2d at 735); D.C.Code § 22-105 (1989). As the majority points out, see ante at 556-557, the evidence in the light most favorable to the governmentwas sufficient for a reasonable juror reasonably to conclude that appellant aided and abetted Taylor's burglary. [7] The government next had to show that Taylor shot the decedent while perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate the burglary: the causal link requirement. E.g., West, 499 A.2d at 865-66; Waller, 389 A.2d at 807; see CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTION, No. 4.22. This is where the government's felony-murder accomplice theory falters. The government introduced no evidence that anyone other than appellant had a gun or struggled with the decedent over control of the gun. Only one witness, Percy Settles, testified as to who had the gun. He stated that after the first shot, he saw appellant holding the gun, and that just before the fatal second shot he saw the decedent grab appellant's wrist and saw the two of them struggling over control of the gun. The government presented other circumstantial evidence that tended to show appellant had pulled the gun; it presented no evidence that either Taylor or Kevin Marshall did. [8] Because the government presented no evidence that the principal of the burglary, Theodore Taylor, shot the decedent, the evidence was insufficient to convict appellant of felony-murder under an accomplice theory. Thus, there is no need to examine whether the government met its burden with respect to the scope of shared purpose requirement, i.e., that the killing was within the common purpose shared by Theodore Taylor, Kevin Marshall, and appellant, or was a natural or probable consequence of Taylor's burglary. E.g., Christian, 394 A.2d at 48; Heinlein, 160 U.S.App.D.C. at 168, 490 F.2d at 736. Because the majority in effect found the evidence sufficient to sustain appellant's conviction as an aider and abettor, as well as a principal, however, I examine the scope of shared purpose requirement in light of the evidence in this case in Part II.C., below. [9]
Under its theory that appellant committed felony-murder as a principal, the government had to show that appellant killed the decedent while perpetrating the underlying felony of armed burglary: the entry with intent to assault Kirk Shephard with the bat. That is the causal link requirement. It is not sufficient for the government to prove only that the burglary was followed by an unlawful killing; it must prove that there was such actual legal relation between the killing and the crime committed ... that the killing can be said to have occurred as a part of the perpetration of the crime, or in furtherance of an attempt or purpose to commit it. Heinlein, 160 U.S.App.D.C. at 168, 490 F.2d at 736 (quoting State v. Schwensen, 392 P.2d at 334); see Bolden, 169 U.S.App.D.C. at 66, 514 F.2d at 1307; Head, 451 A.2d at 625. Unlike the majority, I believe the question whether the government presented sufficient evidence to sustain appellant's conviction as a principal is a close call. First, as already indicated, the government's evidence showing that appellant aided and abetted Theodore Taylor's entry with intent to assault was sufficient to establish appellant's participation in the underlying felony of armed burglary. Second, I agree with the majority that there was sufficient evidence to show that the decedent was killed by the second gunshot (this point was uncontested at trial) and that appellant had possession of the gun at the time of the first gunshot. Finally, although no one saw who fired the second, fatal shot, Percy Settles testified that he saw appellant and the decedent struggle over the gun just before it went off the second time, and several other witnesses heard appellant and the decedent arguing over the bat just before the second shot. Thus, the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable juror to conclude that appellant shot the decedent. The jury, however, did not convict appellant of murder. Because the jury hung on both first degree premeditated murder and the lesser included offense of second degree murder, at least one juror did not believe appellant fired the second shot with the required mental state. See D.C.Code § 22-2401 (requiring deliberate and premeditated malice for murder in the first degree, other than felony-murder); id. at -2403 (requiring malice aforethought for murder in the second degree). We can assume, however, that the jury believed that appellant shot the decedent, since all the government's evidence pointed to him, rather than to Theodore Taylor, as the triggerman. See supra Part II.A. Thus, because the jury did not find appellant had the necessary mens rea for murder, it convicted him of first degree murder solely because of the application of the felonymurder rule. For us to overturn his conviction for felony-murder, therefore, appellant must show that the government failed in its burden of sufficiently proving the causal link between the burglary and the killing. In other words, if there was legally insufficient evidence of the causal link, our one choice would be to overturn the conviction. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence for felony-murder, the majority summarizes: The assault upon Shephard led almost immediately to the intervention of decedent, the momentary departure of Taylor and appellant, and the encounter between Kevin Marshall and decedent. Kevin Marshall's call for assistance led to the return of Taylor and appellant and their assistance to Kevin Marshall in his altercation with decedent. Either Taylor... or appellant ... inflicted the fatal wound. Ante at 557. [10] From that factual summary the majority concludes that the burglary `may be deemed a continuing offense for purposes of the felony-murder statute,' id. (quoting Blango, 373 A.2d at 888), and that [t]he jury was presented with an `unbroken chain of facts and circumstances which link' the burglary committed at the initial entry and the homicide, id. at 558 (quoting Coleman, 111 U.S.App.D.C. at 215, 295 F.2d at 560). Unfortunately, the majority does not explain how the government's evidence in this case proves that the burglary was a continuing offense, as in Blango, nor does it explain why the chain of facts and circumstances was unbroken, as in Coleman. See supra at 560-561 (discussing facts and holdings of Blango and Coleman ). According to the government's own evidence at trial, the flow of events between Theodore Taylor's entry and assault of Shephard (one swing of the bat which Shephard blocked) and appellant's shooting of the decedent was not as uninterrupted as the majority's synopsis suggests. Of the government's three key eyewitnesses (Janice Settles, Percy Settles, and Tawanna Matthews), Janice Settles provided the most complete and understandable testimony regarding what happened before the shots were fired, while Percy Settles provided the most complete and understandable testimony regarding what happened at the time the shots were fired. Both Percy Settles and Matthews testified that appellant told Theodore Taylor don't fight with the bat because Taylor and Shephard knew each other. That corroborated testimony was not challenged. Janice Settles testified that after Taylor nonetheless swung the bat at Shephard, she intervened and ordered everybody out. Percy Settles corroborated Janice Settles' testimony. At about this time, the decedent came out of the bathroom and told everyone to stop arguing because all of them grew up together. According to Janice Settles, appellant and Taylor complied with her order and left the apartment and went back into the hallway. Matthews corroborated Janice Settles' story that appellant was in the hallway and not in the apartment at that point. [11] Although Kevin Marshall attempted to follow them, the door jammed and he got stuck inside. Then Kevin Marshall and the decedent began to argue, Marshall hit the decedent with the bat, and the two began struggling over the bat. When Marshall called out for help, appellant reentered the apartment. According to Percy Settles' testimony, appellant then pulled a gun and fired it once into the floor. After everyone scattered, the decedent refused to give appellant the bat and the two of them began to struggle over the gun. That was the last thing Percy Settles saw, but shortly thereafter a second shot rang out, and appellant ran from the apartment. Surely a reasonable juror could have concluded that, by telling Theodore Taylor not to use the bat and by leaving the apartment when ordered to do so by Janice Settles, appellant had either disassociated himself from the original criminal enterprise or that the chain of circumstances between the burglary and the killing had been broken. See Coleman, 111 U.S.App. D.C. at 216, 295 F.2d at 561; cf. Harris, 377 A.2d at 38. On the other hand, the jury could have refused so to find. Coleman, 111 U.S.App.D.C. at 219, 295 F.2d at 564. First, even though appellant had momentarily left the apartment, both the batthe weapon on which the common purpose centered and one of appellant's co-felons, Kevin Marshall, remained in the apartment. Thus, the jury could reasonably find that Kevin Marshall had not yet accomplished his escape from the scene of the crime and that appellant returned in order to further his co-felon's escape. Second, events happened very quickly, so the jury could have inferred that appellant's momentary departure at about the same time the decedent entered the room to breakup the fighting and arguing precipitated by the assault on Shephardwas not enough to break the chain of circumstances between the burglary and the subsequent deadly struggle between appellant and decedent. I conclude, therefore, that the government's evidence was sufficient for a reasonable juror to find the causal link between the felony and the killing in order to fairly infer guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., Langley v. United States, 515 A.2d 729, 731 (D.C.1986).
Although I concur in the court's affirmance, to show why I believe the majority's approach in this case is inappropriate and incomplete, thereby raising warning signals for future accomplice felony-murder cases, I now briefly explain why the government's evidencesufficient to meet the causal link requirement to convict appellant as a principalwas insufficient to meet the scope of shared purpose requirement necessary to convict appellant as an aider and abettor. At the time of the altercation between the decedent and Kevin Marshall, the brief confrontation between Theodore Taylor and Shephardthe goal of the shared purpose had ended. Although appellant accompanied the decedent to the apartment, thereby aiding and abetting Taylor's burglary, [12] there was uncontroverted testimony by two government witnessesthat appellant told Taylor not to use the bat before Taylor took a swing at Shephard. Appellant thus took a significant step to abandon the common purpose of assaulting Shephard with the bat. Appellant only intervened in response to Kevin Marshall's call for help. Most importantly, the government presented no evidence that part of the purpose shared by Theodore Taylor, Kevin Marshall, and appellant was for one of them to carry a gun to use, if necessary, in the confrontation with Shephard, let alone in a confrontation with someone else. There was no evidence that the two who were not carrying a gun knew the other one was carrying a gun. The government, therefore, did not prove that the shooting was within the scope of the shared purpose of appellant, Taylor, and Marshall; nor did it prove that the shooting was a natural or probable consequence of Taylor's entry with a bat with intent to assault Shephard. As indicated in Part II.B., however, I concur in the majority's affirmance because the evidence was sufficient to convict appellant as a principal under the government's felony-murder charge.