Court Opinion

ID: 9848008
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:11:12.731689+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:54.320586
License: Public Domain

*517CLARK, J.
I dissent from the majority opinion insofar as it absolves defendant of vicarious responsibility for the murder of his accomplice. I further dissent insofar as the majority reaffirm, while denying retroactive effect to, this court’s unfortunate decision in In re Scott K. (1979) 24 Cal.3d 395 [155 Cal.Rptr. 671, 595 P.2d 105],
Defendant struck Mr. Anderson on the back of the head as Anderson struggled with Ryles for the pistol. This malicious conduct, I conclude, was a proximate cause of Ryles’ death. The majority reject this conclusion on the ground Anderson had already decided, before defendant struck him, to use the gun if he gained control of it.1 This is a fair reading of the record. However, it ignores certain obvious, if unspoken, facts.
Anderson disarmed Ryles and shot him with his own pistol. Had Anderson believed defendant was no threat to him, that defendant would not come to Ryles’ assistance, Anderson might well have not shot Ryles but rather simply held him at gunpoint until the police arrived. However, defendant had come to Ryles’ assistance seconds before when Anderson was struggling with him for the pistol. Therefore, when Ryles shouted to defendant, “Shoot him, man; he’s got my gun,” Anderson could reasonably conclude defendant would do so and that he (Anderson) had to shoot Ryles to protect himself from the two assailants.2
Admittedly, Anderson did not testify that he engaged in the analysis suggested. However, he was required to react instantaneously to a com*518plex situation of which defendant’s malicious conduct was a significant element. That Anderson may not have consciously assessed the significance of defendant’s conduct or may not recall having done so does not mean it did not play a crucial role in his shooting of Ryles. In situations of this sort we should not focus exclusively on the victim’s recall of his subjective response to the defendant’s malicious conduct. Rather, we should also consider whether a reasonable man, given the opportunity and presence of mind to assess the significance of the defendant’s conduct, would have been provoked to lethal resistance by it. Applying this standard I conclude defendant was vicariously responsible for the murder of his accomplice.
The orders declaring defendant a ward of the juvenile court and committing him to the Youth Authority should be affirmed without modification.
Richardson, J., concurred.
MANUEL, J., Dissenting—For the reasons expressed in that part of the dissenting opinion of Justice Clark concluding that the defendant is responsible for the murder of his accomplice, I respectfully dissent from the judgment of this court reversing the judgment of the juvenile court.

‘[W]e reject the minor’s blow to the back of Anderson’s head during the struggle as a basis of his responsibility for Ryles’ death. Anderson testified he had feared for his life from the moment the robbers displayed a gun and announced their intention. He decided to fight for the weapon and shoot Ryles when, after robbing him, Ryles suggested they move from the building shadows to an alley even darker. It was then, Anderson declared, that he knew he would be ‘executed’ unless he fought for the gun. He stated that when he grabbed for the pistol he anticipated having to use it. Indeed, though the minor’s subsequent blow dislodged his glasses, Anderson said it was not severe enough for him to ‘notice it.’ [U] That ‘rabbit punch’ was certainly a malicious act taken in conscious disregard for life, since foreseeably it could have allowed Ryles to prevail and shoot Anderson, or at least caused the gun to discharge accidentally. However, it fails to meet the second requirement of Washington-Gilbert-Pizano murder liability since it did not provoke Anderson’s lethal resistance and was not the proximate cause of Ryles’ death.” (Ante, pp. 507-508.)

Although defendant had personally used a pistol in robbing the fast food stand minutes earlier, he did not brandish a weapon during the Anderson robbery. Nevertheless, Anderson could reasonably conclude that, unless defendant were armed, Ryles would not have shouted to him, “Shoot him, man; he’s got my gun.”