Opinion ID: 2812643
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Apprehension and Investigation

Text: On February 18, 1993, Los Angeles Police Department patrol officers were looking for a white Jeep Cherokee with wood paneling. Seeing such a vehicle, they activated their lights and siren. The Jeep sped up, made a sharp right turn, and fishtailed. Although it struck two vehicles, the Jeep sped on, driving up to 65 miles an hour on wet city streets. With the police in pursuit, the Jeep wove through traffic, driving on the center divider and into oncoming traffic lanes. Finally, the Jeep hit a curb, flew into the air, and struck a pole. Defendant jumped from the driver‘s side, and Darren White left the front passenger seat. Both ran. White was caught nearby. Defendant was found hiding in some bushes. The Jeep‘s rear passenger, Ray Rios, emerged more slowly and was arrested at the crash site. Defendant wore a black jacket and had his black hair in a ponytail. He was 26 years old, approximately six foot two and 185 pounds. White, an AfricanAmerican man, was approximately five foot eight and 190 pounds. Rios, also African-American, was approximately five foot six, weighing 160 to 165 pounds. In the Jeep, along with sunglasses, several baseball caps, jackets, and duct tape, police found two loaded .380-caliber handguns: a blue steel Iver Johnson and a blue steel Walther. A firearms analyst determined that four expended cartridges and one bullet found at the scene of the H&R Pawnshop robbery had been fired from the Iver Johnson. A cartridge case and expended bullet recovered from the Sun Valley Shell scene matched the Walther. Two expended cartridges and a bullet found at Jack‘s Liquor had also been fired from the Walther. Defendant was tried alone. He called two guilt phase witnesses challenging specific testimony about the Jack‘s Liquor incident. 9