Opinion ID: 2357828
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Murder, Robbery and Attempted Carjacking of Richard Dunbar

Text: On the night of April 5, 1995, Richard Dunbar was murdered in front of the West Palms apartment complex on Alvern Street in Los Angeles. Christie Hervey heard the gunshots and told her son to call 911. From her balcony, she saw a man lying in the street, crying for help. Another man walked swiftly toward Hervey, coming within 40 feet of her. [1] He carried a gun and looked over his shoulder at the victim. The area was brightly lit; Hervey's view of the gunman was unobstructed. Two years later police showed Hervey six photographs. She picked defendant's photograph as that of the gunman. She identified defendant at the preliminary hearing and again, positively, at trial. Lacourier Davis, a security guard, also heard the shots. He saw a man sitting on the ground with his back against a car, and blood flowing from a hole in his chest. The victim was identified as Mr. Dunbar by his sister and his roommate. He died of two fatal gunshot wounds, one passing through his lung and the other puncturing his aorta. His roommate testified that Dunbar took his car keys when he left their Inglewood Avenue apartment that evening. While his new BMW was found at the crime scene, the keys were missing. Dunbar's other personal effects, including his driver's license, were found at the scene. Guilt was established by defendant's admissions and by ballistics evidence connecting several events. On a single night nine months before the murder, defendant and Frank Lewis committed a series of robberies. Lewis was 14 years old; defendant was an adult. Defendant gave Lewis a gun and drove around Hollywood looking for victims. He waited in the car while Lewis accosted the targets. One intended victim sprayed Mace at Lewis, who ran away. Defendant responded by slapping his young confederate. When the pair saw Lisa La Pierre in her parked car, defendant directed Lewis to steal her phone. Wanting to prove himself, Lewis shot La Pierre, then returned the gun to defendant. A.380-caliber cartridge casing was found at the crime scene. Ms. La Pierre survived the shooting. [2] When Lewis testified at defendant's trial he was serving a California Youth Authority (now Division of Juvenile Justice) term for the attempted murder. Seventeen months after the Dunbar murder, Los Angeles police responded to a report of gunshots at 9700 Glasgow Place. They encountered several members of the MoneySide Hustlers gang. One of the men fled, dropping a.380-caliber pistol. A ballistics expert testified that this discarded gun fired the cartridge casings recovered at the Dunbar and La Pierre crime scenes. Glenn Johnson was one of the gang members at Glasgow Place. When police interviewed him after the incident, Johnson was out of custody, friendly, and cooperative. He told Detective Ronald Cade that defendant said he was trying to carjack somebody and they wouldn't cooperate so he killed him. Defendant gave the location of the killing as the West Palms apartment complex where Dunbar was murdered. Johnson saw defendant drop a .380-caliber pistol when he ran from Glasgow Place. Sometime before the Glasgow Place incident, defendant had loaned the gun to Johnson and told him to be careful, there was some murders on the gun. Detective Cade told Johnson he might receive reward money, and later gave him $100. Cade did not intercede for Johnson on any cases. At trial, Johnson either denied, or said he could not recall, making the statements to Cade. Excerpts of the tape recorded interviews were admitted as prior inconsistent statements.
Dr. Scott Fraser testified as a defense expert witness on eyewitness identification. According to Dr. Fraser, studies have shown that a number of factors affect one's ability to recognize faces. The following were among the factors he addressed. Distance. There was conflicting evidence as to how close Ms. Hervey was to the gunman. She estimated 40 feet. Dr. Fraser's later measurements at the scene suggested 100 feet. Measurements taken by Detective Cade, who testified on rebuttal, suggested 75 feet. Measurements taken by a defense investigator, who testified on surrebuttal, were consistent with those of Dr. Fraser. The distance was significant because, according to Dr. Fraser, the ability to recognize even familiar faces drops down to essentially nil beyond 80 feet. For strange faces, recognition accuracy drops off dramatically beyond 50 feet. Kinetic distortions. According to Dr. Fraser, it is difficult to maintain focus on a moving object: [W]e jerk and jump ahead in order to try to keep up with it. And in those transitions of keeping up with it, there's no fixation. So less information is stored. Hervey testified that defendant walked swiftly toward her while looking back at his victim. Weapons focus. A weapon tends to distract attention. Hervey testified defendant was carrying a gun. Time. Memory degrades over time; Hervey was first shown the photo lineup two years after the murder.