People v. Warner

247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 809, 35 Cal. App. 5th 25
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedMay 7, 2019
DocketC077711
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 809 (People v. Warner) 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. Warner, 247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 809, 35 Cal. App. 5th 25 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

BLEASE, Acting P. J.

*811*27This case involves a jury finding of attempted homicide pursuant to a "kill zone" theory. It arises from a shooting in a crowded bar. On a Saturday night of a long July 4th holiday weekend, defendant Shane Michael Warner took a semiautomatic hand gun, concealed in his waistband into a bar. He shot across the bar's semi-dark dance floor, illuminated by a strobe light, at I. Smith, who had attacked him a few weeks earlier. Defendant emptied the gun's clip of 10 bullets and wounded, but did not kill his primary target, Smith, and wounded, but did not kill an innocent bystander, N.C. Defendant claimed to have acted in self-defense, but there was no evidence that Smith was armed.

The prosecution charged defendant with two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the attempted murder of Smith, and the prosecution eventually dismissed that count. The jury acquitted defendant of the attempted murder of N.C., but found him guilty of the lesser included offense *28of attempted voluntary manslaughter. The jury convicted defendant of assaulting N.C. with a semiautomatic firearm. The trial court sentenced defendant to 22 years in prison, calculated as follows: nine years (upper term) for the assault, plus 10 years for personal use of a firearm pursuant to Penal Code section 12022.5, subdivision (a), plus three consecutive years for the personal infliction of great bodily injury. The trial court stayed the attempted voluntary manslaughter sentence of five years six months pursuant to Penal Code section 654.

In the published portion of this opinion defendant argues there is insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction for attempted voluntary manslaughter because he did not intend to kill N.C. He argues it was error to allow the prosecution to infer intent from a "kill zone" theory, and to so instruct the jury. The instruction said: "a person may intend to kill a specific victim or victims and, at the same time, intend to kill everyone in a particular zone of harm or ... 'kill zone.' " The intent is concurrent. It occurs "when the nature and scope of the attack, while directed at a primary victim, are such that we can conclude the perpetrator intended to ensure harm to the primary victim by harming everyone in that victim's vicinity." ( People v. Bland (2002) 28 Cal.4th 313, 329, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 546, 48 P.3d 1107 ( Bland ).) The intent is imputed to the defendant from the extreme danger to life tendered by such conduct.

We conclude that the trial court did not err in allowing the prosecutor to argue defendant intended to kill N.C. under a "kill zone" theory, and in so instructing the jury. " 'Where the means employed to commit the crime against a primary victim create a zone of harm around that victim, the factfinder can reasonably infer that the defendant intended that harm to all who are in the anticipated zone.' " ( Bland, supra , 28 Cal.4th at pp. 329-330, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 546, 48 P.3d 1107, quoting Ford v. State (Md.Ct.App. 1993) 330 Md. 682, 717, 625 A.2d 984.) Defendant's actions in shooting a gun multiple times at a group of people on a crowded, semi-dark dance floor provided facts from which a reasonable jury could infer he intended to kill people on the dance floor, including N.C.

*812We issued a published opinion on May 7, 2019, affirming the judgment. On May 22, 2019, defendant filed a petition for rehearing asking us to address his supplemental brief seeking a remand to the trial court for retroactive application of Senate Bill No. 620 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (hereafter Senate Bill 620), which would allow the trial court to exercise its discretion to dismiss the firearm enhancement. We will remand the matter to the trial court for the sole purpose of determining whether to exercise its discretion to dismiss the section 12022.5, subdivision (a) firearm enhancement.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The shooting occurred at LaSalle's Bar in Chico, California. About three weeks prior to the shooting, defendant and Smith got into an argument after defendant confronted Smith about wearing a blue Los Angeles Dodgers cap. Defendant and Smith were told to leave the bar. After defendant and Smith left the bar, Smith punched defendant several times in the face. Defendant testified that before he lost consciousness, he heard Smith say, "If you come around my turf again, I'm going to kill you." Defendant sustained a concussion, a contusion on his right and left eye, a chipped tooth, scratches all over his face, a busted lip, and a sore rib. Defendant testified that his friends later told him to stay away from Smith because Smith was dangerous and had gang ties.

*29Defendant testified that before the fight, he had purchased an unregistered nine-millimeter Glock handgun off the streets. He said he purchased it to protect his household, but did not normally carry it on his person. Nevertheless, he had it in his back waistband when he went to LaSalle's Bar on July 2, 2011, the night of the shooting. He arrived at the bar wearing a red Cincinnati Reds cap, even though he was a San Francisco Giants fan. The Cincinnati cap matched his outfit, which was all red and black.

Andre Shaw was at LaSalle's Bar the night of the shooting with his friend N.C. Defendant, whom they did not know, asked Shaw at one point if he was from Chico. N.C. and Shaw went to the bar's back patio, and Shaw was dancing on the dance floor. N.C. was standing next to him. Shaw heard two shots, then looked around to see defendant standing next to the DJ booth with a gun in his hand, firing it in the middle of the bar. Defendant was firing in Shaw's direction, and Shaw thought that defendant was aiming for him. Shaw ran out of the bar and did not see anyone get injured.

N.C. was standing near Shaw when she felt something hit her back. She fell to the floor. She saw Smith also on the ground, but not close enough for her to touch. She saw defendant standing at Smith's feet, shooting at Smith's chest area as Smith lay on the ground. N.C. was having difficulty breathing because her lung had been punctured.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
247 Cal. Rptr. 3d 809, 35 Cal. App. 5th 25, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-warner-calctapp5d-2019.