Opinion ID: 2637056
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Robbery, felony murder, robbery-murder special circumstance

Text: Defendant contends the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's verdicts of guilt on the robbery and felonymurder counts and its true finding on the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation. Only speculation, he argues, suggests the shooting in this case was committed as a part of a robbery. Rather, according to defendant, his dispute with the victim concerned the heat in their shared apartment, and the taking occurred only after the shooting (and thus, he contends, fails to support an inference that he entertained an intent to steal at the time he shot the victim, as required for robbery, felony murder, and the robbery-murder special circumstance). (See People v. Morris (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1, 249 Cal.Rptr. 119, 756 P.2d 843 (Morris) , disapproved on another ground in In re Sassounian (1995) 9 Cal.4th 535, 543-544, fn. 5, 37 Cal.Rptr.2d 446, 887 P.2d 527; People v. Berryman (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1048, 1090, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 867, 864 P.2d 40, overruled on other grounds in People v. Hill (1998) 17 Cal.4th 800, 823, 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 656, 952 P.2d 673 [mental state required for felony-murder special circumstance is intent to commit underlying felony].) Defendant argues the evidence shows the taking was merely incidental to the killing and thus is insufficient to support a felony-murder verdict under the rule of People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 59-62, 164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468, disapproved on another point in People v. Hall (1986) 41 Cal.3d 826, 834, footnote 3, 226 Cal.Rptr. 112, 718 P.2d 99. In Morris, supra, 46 Cal.3d 1, 249 Cal. Rptr. 119, 756 P.2d 843, this court reversed a robbery conviction and a robberymurder special-circumstance finding for insufficient evidence. In Morris, the victim's unclothed body was found, shot to death, in a gay bathhouse. The record contained no evidence that any personal property was in the victim's possession at the time of the murder. No property belonging to the victim was ever recovered, with the possible exception of a credit card, lent to the victim by a third person; the defendant, or someone looking like him, was seen presenting the card three days after the murder. A witness testified the defendant had made the comment that `... he go out there and make money, you know, with these homosexuals, you know, datesโhe had to kill one.' (Id. at p. 20, 249 Cal.Rptr. 119, 756 P.2d 843.) We held the evidence insufficient to show that any property was taken from the victim by force or fear, as necessary for robbery: That the defendant surreptitiously stole a credit card from the victim's clothes before shooting him, or even that the victim offered the card as a form of consideration for sexual services, was each a plausible scenario given the state of the evidence. (Id. at pp. 20-22, 249 Cal.Rptr. 119, 756 P.2d 843.) In People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d 1, 164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468, on which defendant also relies, the defendant husband killed his wife, apparently out of jealousy or for revenge. The defendant and an accomplice then took her purse, clothing, and rings, apparently to hinder identification of the victim. Setting aside the robbery-murder special-circumstance finding, this court concluded that the evidence was insufficient to establish the murder had been committed during the commission of a robbery; the taking was merely incidental to the murder. (Id. at pp. 59-62, 164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468.) In contrast, in the present case, McLean Currie testified that defendant demanded Martinez's car keys at gunpoint, Martinez refused, and defendant then shot him, after which he again demanded the keys and proceeded to search for them. Defendant asserts the shooting grew out of a dispute between the two men concerning the heat in their apartment and that any theft was incidental to the shooting, but the jury was not required to credit defendant's version of the event. From the evidence presented, the jury reasonably could have inferred that the dispute between defendant and Martinez concerned defendant's insistence that Martinez surrender his car, and that defendant shot Martinez in order to compel him to accede to his demands. In other words, the evidence supports an inference that defendant entertained the intent to steal before he committed an act of force. That defendant did not actually succeed in finding the keys until after the shooting does not dictate a contrary result. The jury's verdicts on the robbery and murder charges and its true finding on the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation find ample support in the evidence.