People v. Johnson

190 Cal. App. 3d 187, 237 Cal. Rptr. 479, 1986 Cal. App. LEXIS 2427
California Court of Appeal·Decided December 10, 1986·No. B003008·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

Opinion

LILLIE, P. J.

A jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder (count I), attempted robbery (count II) and second degree burglary (count III); and as to each count, to be true, the special allegation that a principal was armed with a handgun (§ 12022, subd.(a), Pen. Code). He appeals from the judgment.

*190 Facts

People’s Case

Frank Bakewell died of multiple gunshot wounds sustained in the morning of October 7, 1982.

Bakewell worked for the One-Stop check cashing service located in a shopping center. About 10 a.m., defendant and Laurence Anthony drove to the center in a yellow Dodge (TAW229), parked, exited and walked toward the check cashing service; Anthony, who held a gun in his hand, walked to the front while defendant walked to the rear of the building; on the way, defendant passed and said “good morning” to Noel Foucher, a shopping center employee whose store was at the end of the shopping center; after returning to his store, Foucher saw defendant and Anthony stand at the comer talking, and about a minute later walk past his store toward the other stores; a gas company truck pulled up, and a little while later Foucher heard a couple of shots and saw defendant and Anthony, who still held the pistol, mnning past his store; Foucher “backed off,” peeked out, saw Bakewell standing in his doorway and heard him say he was shot; since Herbert Barton was assisting him, he ran over to get the license of the yellow car to which defendant and Anthony had fled; defendant drove it away.

Meanwhile, Herbert Barton, a gas company employee was seated in his track in front of Foucher’s store; he saw defendant and Anthony stand and talk two feet from the check cashing service, then enter; they stayed inside for about a minute, came out and talked, then reentered; he heard two shots and saw defendant and Anthony, who was carrying a gun, ran out the front door past him, get into their car and drive away. Barton pulled in front of the check cashing service, and Bakewell, who was standing at the front door, told him he had been shot twice and asked him to call an ambulance.

The yellow Dodge was located at the home of Laurence Anthony, about two blocks from defendant’s house.

After defendant was arrested, Officer Mason interviewed him after advising him of his constitutional rights and obtaining a waiver; Officer Preston was present part of the time, and Officer Wright entered the room twice during the interview speaking briefly with defendant. Officer Mason told defendant he was charged with attempted robbery and murder; he did not tell him that Anthony had already told them he (defendant) had committed the crime, but told him he had been identified. Defendant said he would only talk about himself, and described the incident at the check cashing service referring to his partner only as “a dude.” Defendant told him *191 it was getting close to Christmas, he had two kids and his probation officer was “bugging” him for money he owed him; he did not have a gun when he went to the check cashing center; he went there with a “dude” in an old yellow car; he had planned to rob the old man to whom he had talked before, at the check cashing service; he was supposed to be the lookout, and after the other “dude” got the old man at gunpoint, he would go in and collect the money; he looked inside the store and saw the old man kneeling “messing” with some plants; he heard two gunshots and knew the old man had been shot even though he never looked inside again, then they ran to the car. He never went inside the check cashing service store. Initially he went around to the rear and spoke to a man (Foucher). When asked what he would have done differently, he said he would have slapped the old man around a little and made him give up the money, “that he just wanted to rob him. He said that murder and hurting somebody wasn’t in the program and I think he ended it by—in reference to the attempted robbery, he said it was just a complete f— up.” Officer Mason wrote a summary of the statement and showed it to defendant who said it was accurate; defendant was asked to sign it but refused.

Defense

. Defendant and his girlfriend presented an alibi—they spent the morning of October 7 together. When police talked to the girlfriend, she did not tell them she was with him that morning. Defendant denied any participation with Anthony in the attempted robbery, and even associating with him. He further testified that he did speak to the officers who told him Laurence Anthony said he (defendant) committed the crime; he did not believe that, and told them, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” then, “You don’t know what you’re talking about”; he never told Officer Mason he had committed this crime; while he talked to Officer Mason, Officer Wright never sat down but stood around a few seconds and left; earlier he had gone to Wright’s home to obtain help in finding a job.

Rebuttal

Officer Wright, who had known defendant for at least 10 years, testified he was present for the first 15 to 20 minutes of Officer Mason’s interview with defendant, left and returned staying 5 to 10 minutes longer. He was present while defendant gave a statement of his involvement in the crime. Defendant talked about another person who was with him but referred to him only as “a dude”; he went to the check cashing service because he was broke, had several kids and it was approaching Christmas; he spoke to Foucher on his way to the store where he stayed outside and was to cover for the “dude” inside, he looked inside and saw a man being confronted by *192 the “dude,” heard two shots and left the scene. At this point he left the interview room and when he returned, he asked defendant if he had come to his house the day after Anthony was arrested to talk about the incident, and defendant said he went there hoping he would say something about it.

I

CALJIC No. 2.21

Appellant contends that the trial court erred when it instructed the jury in the language of CALJIC No. 2.21 to distrust the testimony of a witness who was willfully false in a material part of his or her testimony. 1 We examine the merits of his contention even though defendant interposed no objection to the instruction in the trial court.

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People v. Johnson, 190 Cal. App. 3d 187, 237 Cal. Rptr. 479, 1986 Cal. App. LEXIS 2427 (Cal. Ct. App. 1986).

190 Cal. App. 3d 187 (People v. Johnson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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