People v. Stevenson

236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 287, 25 Cal. App. 5th 974
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 3, 2018
DocketA143337; A143415; A143477
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 287 (People v. Stevenson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Stevenson, 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 287, 25 Cal. App. 5th 974 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Pollak, J.

*978Defendants Paul Arthur Stevenson, Aaron Isiah Stewart, and Anthony Alvin Perry appeal judgments convicting them of three counts of first degree murder and four counts of premeditated attempted murder. On appeal, they contend the trial court made instructional errors that require reversal of their convictions. In his briefing, Stewart argues that the court erred by instructing the jury it could convict defendants of first degree murder under the natural and probable consequences theory and by failing sua sponte to instruct on assault with a firearm as a lesser included offense of murder and attempted murder. In his briefing, Stevenson argues that the court erred in instructing the jury regarding motive evidence and the "kill zone" theory of liability of attempted murder. Each defendant has joined in the arguments made by their codefendants. We find no error and shall affirm the judgments.

*979Factual and Procedural Background

The Alameda County District Attorney filed an amended information charging defendants with three counts of first degree murder with multiple murder special circumstances ( Pen. Code, 1 §§ 187, subd. (a), 190.2, subd. (a)(3) ; counts 1, 2, 3) and four counts of premediated attempted murder ( §§ 187, subd. (a), 664 ; counts 4-7). The amended information alleges that each defendant personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury and death in the commission of counts 1 through 6 (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (c), (d), (g); § 12022.5, subd. (a); § 12022.7, subd. (a) ) and that they personally discharged a firearm in connection with count 7 (§ 12022.53, subds. (c), (g); § 12022.5, subd. (a).) The amended information also alleges that defendants personally inflicted great bodily injury in connection with counts 4 through 6. (§ 12022.7, subd. (a) ). In addition, the amended information alleged that Stevenson was released on bail when he committed the offense (§ 12022.1) and that Perry had served a prior prison term (§ 667.5, subd. (b) ).2

*290Defendants do not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence in support of their convictions. Therefore, the following is a summary of the facts sufficient to provide context for the analysis of the instructional errors raised by defendants.

On October 1, 2011, Erica Brown, Shanice Keil, Laneasha Northington, Ikaneasha Johnson, Joshua Alford, Anthony Ewing, and Ryan Gibbs attended a party in San Leandro. Alford was a member of the F.E. ("Fuck Everybody") group, which was described by witnesses as a "social group" of individuals who make raps on YouTube.

Defendants also attended the party with a group of their friends. Defendants were members, or "fans," of the Mob Squad, which was described by a police witness as an "informal" street gang with members who compose rap music.

When the party ended around midnight, the seven victims got into a Ford Explorer and prepared to leave the parking lot. As they tried to back out of their parking spot, a white sedan pulled behind the Explorer and blocked its path. Within a minute, multiple gunshots were fired into the car.

Brown testified that gunshots were coming from the front and the back of the car, sounding "like they were coming from around the whole car." She *980heard "different sounds coming from two different directions" and the sounds of glass breaking and metal hitting metal. The gunfire lasted for about a minute.

Six of the seven victims were shot during the attack. Keil, Northington and Alford died as a result of their injuries. Police investigators located 10 bullet holes in the exterior of the Explorer. Both of the driver's side windows and the rear passenger side window were shattered.

Brown and a second witness identified Stevenson as one of the shooters. Gibbs identified Stewart as another shooter. Another witness, who was at the party with defendants, told police that he saw Perry and Stewart shooting at the car.

After the shooting, defendants regrouped at a friend's house. At that time, all three defendants made statements acknowledging their participation in the shooting. In a statement to police after his arrest, Stewart admitted pulling the trigger three times, but he claimed the gun did not fire but only "click[ed]."

Stanley Turner testified that he had given Stewart his handgun prior to the shooting and that Stewart returned it to him after the shooting. Turner also testified to the source of the animosity between Alford and defendants. According to Turner, an incident occurred at a prior party in San Francisco when Stevenson bumped into an F.E. member or an F.E. member bumped into Stevenson. The dispute escalated with members of both groups pulling out their guns. Alford was with the F.E. group that night. No shots were fired and there were no more confrontations between defendants and the F.E. members after that evening, "[b]ut every time we seen them, [there] was animosity. It wasn't pleasant."

The jury convicted defendants on counts 1 through 3 as charged and found true the special circumstances allegations, and the firearm use and great bodily injury enhancements. The jury also convicted defendants on counts 4 through 7 as charged in the amended information and found the corresponding enhancements true.

The court sentenced each defendant to three consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole on counts 1 through 3, with consecutive enhancements of 25 years to life for the firearm use. The court imposed concurrent 15-year terms on counts 4 through 7, and concurrent firearm enhancements of 25 years to *291life on counts 4 through 6. This court consolidated the three appeals. *981Discussion

1. The jury was properly instructed on first degree murder .

The jury was instructed on three theories of murder as to counts 1, 2, and 3: direct liability as a perpetrator under CALCRIM No. 520,3 direct aiding and abetting of murder under CALCRIM No. 401,4 and murder based on the natural and probable consequences of conspiracy to murder Alford under CALCRIM No. 417.5 The jury also was instructed under CALCRIM No. 402 that defendants could be found guilty of murder on counts 1 and 3 if those killings were the natural and probable consequences of aiding and abetting the murder of Alford.6 In addition, the jury *292was instructed under CALCRIM No. 521 that "A defendant is guilty of first degree murder if the People have *982proved that he acted willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation. A defendant acted willfully if he intended to kill. A defendant acted deliberately if he carefully weighed the considerations for and against his choice and, knowing the consequences, decided to kill. A defendant acted with premeditation

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 287, 25 Cal. App. 5th 974, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-stevenson-calctapp5d-2018.