Court Opinion

ID: 9546970
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:38:40.986868+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:17:05.882777
License: Public Domain

KENNARD, J., Concurring and Dissenting.
Was there sufficient evidence that defendant premeditated and deliberated the murder of Greg Kniffin? I conclude there was not. Therefore, I would reverse defendant’s conviction for the first degree murder of Greg Kniffin. I would, however, hold the evidence sufficient to convict defendant for the second degree murder of Kniffin. With respect to the killing of Mary Gioia, I join the majority in affirming defendant’s conviction for second degree murder.
I. Facts
Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution (People v. Hayes (1990) 52 Cal.3d 577, 631 [276 Cal.Rptr. 874, 802 P.2d 376]), these are the relevant facts:
Defendant was a resident of “Rainbow Village” in Berkeley, an area that had been set aside for the homeless. At the time of the crimes, numerous followers of the Grateful Dead rock band were staying at the village. Among them were Gioia and Kniffin. Each was beaten and shot to death on the morning of August 16, 1985. The cause of each death was a single contact wound to the head or neck. Gioia’s body was found floating in the San Francisco Bay on August 16, and Kniffin’s body was recovered from the bottom of the bay the next day.
The evidence was circumstantial. One witness testified that defendant was standing with the victims at 2:30 a.m. on August 16, 1985, and looked “grim.” Defendant told several people the next morning that his .44-magnum rifle had been stolen. His pipe, which he said he had used to smoke marijuana with the victims, was found near the scene of the shootings. Later that day, defendant asked another village resident, Thomas Medlin, to hide defendant’s ammunition. Other residents made similar requests of Medlin, anticipating a search of the village by the police.
As Gioia’s body was being removed from the bay on August 16, 1985, defendant said, “That’s Mary.” The statement was made before a police officer, who was standing about 30 feet from the body and 15 feet closer than defendant, could tell if the body was male or female. In response to a *550police officer’s question, defendant said that he could think of plenty of reasons why someone would want to murder the victims. When the officer asked him to name one, defendant said he could not think of any at the time.
A firearms expert and retired police inspector, Jack Richardson, testified that, based on his examination of post mortem photographs of Gioia’s wounds, the exit wound would be normal for a high-powered rifle or shotgun. There was no evidence regarding the kind of weapon that inflicted Kniffin’s wound.
II. Discussion
Under People v. Anderson (1968) 70 Cal.2d 15, 26-27 [73 Cal.Rptr. 550, 447 P.2d 942] (Anderson) and its progeny, we look to three types of evidence, “planning,” “motive,” and “manner,” to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of premeditated murder. A reviewing court will uphold a first degree murder conviction when there is evidence of all three types, when there is “extremely strong evidence” of planning, or when there is evidence of motive in conjunction with evidence of either planning or manner. (Id. at p. 27.)
A. Planning
Planning evidence encompasses “facts about how and what defendant did prior to the actual killing which show that the defendant was engaged in activity directed toward, and explicable as intended to result in, the killing— what may be characterized as ‘planning’ activity . . . .” (Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at pp. 26-27, original italics.)
In this case, the majority concludes that because witness Vince Johnson testified he saw defendant with the victims about 2:30 a.m. on the night of the killings, but did not mention seeing a rifle, defendant must have had to return to his car to get the rifle before committing the murders. Johnson, however, was never asked whether he saw a rifle; his failure to respond to a question that was never asked is not evidence of anything. Moreover, even if Johnson had testified he did not see a rifle, this would not prove that defendant had no rifle; it would merely show that on a dark night, from a distance, a witness who testified he “tried not to look” at defendant because he wanted to mind his own business did not see a rifle. The majority further infers that defendant must have planned the killings because they occurred in a place “where a weapon would not have been readily accessible . . . .” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 518.) Yet this adds nothing to the majority’s speculation that defendant must have had to return to his car to obtain the rifle. The *551majority observes that the murders occurred “at an hour when activity would not normally be taking place.” (Ibid.) But in view of the fact that Rainbow Village residents were actively drinking and socializing near the time when the killings apparently took place, this cannot give rise to a rational inference of planning activity.
The majority also suggests that because defendant’s rifle had to be reloaded after each shot, defendant must have planned to kill Kniffin while reloading it. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 517.) But the time lag necessitated by reloading the rifle cannot support an inference that defendant must have planned to kill Kniffin during the time it took to reload, because the jury had no way of determining whether Kniffin was defendant’s first or second victim.
In its discussion of the planning evidence here, the majority cites People v. Alcala (1984) 36 Cal.3d 604, 626 [205 Cal.Rptr. 775, 685 P.2d 1126]. There, this court reasoned that “when one plans a felony against a far weaker victim, takes her by force or fear to an isolated location, and brings along a deadly weapon which he subsequently employs,” advance planning to kill may be reasonably inferred. (Ibid.) Here, there is no evidence of a separate planned felony against Kniffin, no evidence that Kniffin was a victim far weaker than defendant, and no evidence that he was taken by force or fear to an isolated location. And as Alcala cautions, use of a deadly weapon is not necessarily evidence of a plan to kill. (Ibid)
Thus, there is no substantial evidence of what defendant did before the killings that shows he was engaged in activity directed toward, and explicable as intended to result in, killing Kniffin. As I will next explain, there is also no evidence of motive.
B. Motive
Motive evidence consists of “facts about the defendant’s prior relationship and/or conduct with the victim from which the jury could reasonably infer a ‘motive’ to kill the victim, which inference of motive, together with facts of [planning or manner], would in turn support an inference that the killing was the result of ‘a pre-existing reflection’ and ‘careful thought and weighing of considerations’ rather than ‘mere unconsidered or rash impulse hastily executed’ . . . .” (Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 27, original italics.)
This case lacks any evidence of motive. The trial court declared at the sentencing hearing that the murders were committed “without apparent motive, nor any rhyme or reason.” The majority states: “The jury could *552conclude that defendant deliberately and premeditatedly killed Greg because he either had witnessed, or was otherwise about to witness, Mary’s murder.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 519.) This conclusion is pure speculation.
As noted above, there was no evidence as to which of the two victims was killed first. Nor was there evidence that either victim was killed in the other’s presence.
The majority’s witness-elimination theory of premeditation was not the basis on which the prosecutor presented the case to the jury. Instead, the prosecutor argued that defendant intended a sexual attack on Gioia, and killed Kniffin when Kniffin came to Gioia’s aid. The only evidence that might suggest a sexual motive, however, was that the zipper of the outer of two pairs of pants Gioia wore was partway down when her body was recovered. But this evidence is consistent with the pathologist’s testimony that Gioia’s body was dragged over rough ground. Without more, the zipper evidence is insufficient to support the conclusion that Gioia was killed for a sexual reason. The prosecutor’s added hypothesis that Kniffin was killed when he came to Gioia’s aid is just that: hypothesis, not evidence.
The majority does not attempt to resolve whether the prosecutor’s sexual-attack hypothesis would show a motive for Kniffin’s murder. Even if the evidence somehow established a motive for Gioia’s murder, with respect to Kniffin’s murder it has the same problems as the majority’s witness-elimination theory: There was no evidence as to which victim was killed first. Nor was there evidence that either victim was killed in the other’s presence.
The theory that defendant killed Kniffin to eliminate him as a witness to the prior, apparently unmotivated, murder of Gioia founders on the absence of any evidence that Gioia was killed before Kniffin. On the other hand, if, as the majority speculates, defendant killed Kniffin to eliminate him as a witness to the killing of Gioia that was about to occur, then defendant must have had an independent motive for the murder of Gioia that the jury could rationally infer from the evidence. But no such independent motive appears. In any event, there is no evidence that Kniffin was killed before Gioia.
The majority deals with these multiple evidentiary failings by declaring “[tjhere is no evidence that both victims were not present together at the time of the murders.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 519.) But the absence of evidence is not evidence. Moreover, even if the evidence did show that the two victims were together at the time of the murders, this still would not *553establish which victim was killed first, or why. Temporal and spatial proximity do not, by themselves, tell us anything about motive.
Instead of motive (or “prior relationship”) evidence that supports a conclusion that the killing was “the result of ‘a pre-existing reflection’ and ‘careful thought and weighing of considerations’ rather than ‘mere unconsidered or rash impulse hastily executed’ ” (Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 27), the evidence here is more consistent with an explosion of violence. The evidence showed that both victims were badly beaten before being killed. Although we may surmise that, because it was necessary for defendant to reload the rifle before shooting his second victim, the required break to reload provided an opportunity for reflection, this would only tend to show premeditation as to defendant’s second victim. There is no evidence that Kniffin was defendant’s second victim.
In short, the record is devoid of any evidence about defendant’s prior relationship or conduct with Kniffin from which the jury could reasonably infer a motive to kill him.
Implicitly recognizing this, the majority relies on People v. Edwards (1991) 54 Cal.3d 787, 814 [1 Cal.Rptr.2d 696, 819 P.2d 436] for the proposition that we “have never required the prosecution to prove a specific motive before affirming a judgment ... of first degree murder.” This is correct. In Anderson, we stated that first degree murder judgments would be affirmed even in the absence of motive evidence when there was “extremely strong evidence” of planning. (Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 27.) In Edwards, this court adhered to Anderson; although there was no evidence of motive, we upheld the conviction of first degree murder in Edwards because of “extremely strong evidence of planning . . . .” (Edwards, supra, 54 Cal.3d at p. 814.) By contrast, here there is no substantial evidence of planning.
C. Manner
The third type of evidence recognized by this court’s cases as useful in determining premeditation is evidence of the manner of killing. Manner evidence encompasses “facts about the nature of the killing from which the jury could infer that the manner of killing was so particular and exacting that the defendant must have intentionally killed according to a ‘preconceived design’ to take his victim’s life in a particular way for a ‘reason’ which the jury can reasonably infer from facts of [planning or motive].” (Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 27, original italics.)
Here, the majority states: “Both victims were killed by single contact shots, to Mary’s head and Greg’s neck, a method sufficiently ‘ “particular *554and exacting” ’ to warrant an inference that defendant was acting according to a preconceived design. (People v. Caro (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1035, 1050 [251 Cal.Rptr. 757, 761 P.2d 680]; People v. Bloyd [(1987)] 43 Cal.3d [333,] 348 [233 Cal.Rptr. 368, 729 P.2d 802].)” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 518.) In People v. Caro (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1035 [251 Cal.Rptr. 757, 761 P.2d 680], there was no evidence of a struggle, and we concluded that a close-range gunshot to the head was “arguably sufficiently ‘particular and exacting’ to permit an inference that defendant was acting according to a preconceived design.” (Id. at p. 1050.) In People v. Bloyd (1987) 43 Cal.3d 333 [233 Cal.Rptr. 368, 729 P.2d 802], we determined that “execution-style killings” by shots at close range provided sufficient manner evidence, but found it significant that “there was no evidence, such as bruises or lacerations, to demonstrate a struggle.” (Id. at p. 348.) This case is different from Caro and Bloyd. Here, there was considerable evidence of bruises and lacerations preceding Kniffin’s death, including evidence that he had been struck by a gun barrel. This evidence is more consistent with a brutal attack than a calculated killing. At most, the evidence permits a very weak inference of manner. The facts do not show “a ‘preconceived design’ to take [Kniffin’s] life in a particular way for a ‘reason’ which the jury [could] reasonably infer from facts of [planning or motive].” (Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 27.)
III. Conclusion
Defendant’s crimes were brutal and reprehensible; therefore, the jury’s decision at the penalty phase to impose the maximum penalty is easily understandable. But when the evidence is measured against the guidelines this court has followed for the last quarter-century in distinguishing premeditated murder from all other murders, the judgment of first degree murder cannot stand. There was no evidence of planning, no evidence of motive, and weak evidence of manner. Under Anderson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at page 27, there must be evidence of all three types, or extremely strong evidence of planning, or evidence of motive plus evidence of either planning or manner. Applying the criteria of Anderson to this case, I conclude there is insufficient evidence to support a rational inference that beyond a reasonable doubt defendant premeditated and deliberated the murder of Kniffin; the evidence is sufficient only for second degree murder.
*555Accordingly, I would reverse the conviction of defendant for the first degree murder of Kniffin. Because defendant’s eligibility for the death penalty is dependent on the judgment of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 190.3), I would strike the special circumstance finding, and would remand the case for resentencing.
Appellant’s petition for a rehearing was denied June 17, 1992. Mosk, J., and Kennard, J., were of the opinion that the petition should be granted.