People v. Webb

236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 250, 25 Cal. App. 5th 901
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 1, 2018
DocketD073592
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 250 (People v. Webb) 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. Webb, 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 250, 25 Cal. App. 5th 901 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

DATO, J.

*903A jury convicted James Adam Webb of first degree murder ( Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) ),1 and found true the special allegation of using a knife in the commission of the offense (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1) ). On appeal from the judgment, Webb argues the court had a sua sponte duty to instruct the jury on the defense of duress ( CALCRIM No. 3402 ). He also claims CALCRIM No. 548 erroneously instructed the jury it did not need to agree on the theory of murder when the two theories corresponded to different degrees . As we explain, remand is required solely for a restitution hearing, but in all other respects we affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Webb lived in a recreational vehicle (RV) parked adjacent to another RV belonging to John R. As Webb would later admit, on August 25, 2014, he entered John's RV, bound him with rope, sprayed him with pepper spray, and drove the RV away.

Webb interacted with several friends that night. Still driving John's RV, he first went to a motel where his friend Gina and her husband were staying. He told them *252he had done something wrong and might have killed someone, but they did not believe him. He returned later to say he had killed someone and needed help getting rid of the body. They told Webb to leave.

Around 1:00 a.m. Webb encountered his friend "T" in a parking lot. He told her he needed to cash a check from an old man, and she suggested a liquor store. T's acquaintance, Jeff, rode up on a bicycle and pulled a knife out from Webb's pocket. The knife had blood on it, as did Webb's hands. Webb looked at them and said, "I tell you right now, I killed that fuckin' old man in that motor home, and you're going to help me dispose of the body." Not believing him, Jeff tried to lick the knife. Webb pulled it away, saying it was *904blood. Webb told T he had snapped and stabbed the victim after he objected to a shirt Webb was wearing. Reaching for a set of keys, he asked T if she wanted to go inside John's RV to "see"; T declined. Webb said he did not want to go to prison for "the rest of his life." He later told T and Jeff, "By the way, whatever I said to you earlier is just bullshit, just forget it."

Meanwhile, Gina called her friend Rebecca to convey what Webb had stated. Rebecca told her friend Adam, who was concerned. Rebecca, Adam, Gina, and Gina's husband set off in two cars to search for Webb. When they found John's RV in a parking lot, Adam called 911.

Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department arrived. They found John's body inside the RV. His legs and wrists had been bound, and there was evidence he had been hit with pepper spray. There were multiple blunt force injuries. The cause of death was heavy bleeding from lacerations to the neck.

Deputies located and arrested Webb that night. Webb had John's RV keys in his possession, and the shoes he wore matched prints found outside John's RV. Webb's fingerprint was on a can of pepper spray found in John's RV. Surveillance videos showed Webb driving John's RV to various places.

Webb agreed to speak with deputies. Although his story changed several times, he consistently tried to implicate Adam and another person named Tim as gang members and the actual killers.2 No evidence linked Adam or Tim to the crime or to any gang. Both denied gang membership at trial. Tim and his girlfriend had been living off and on with Webb. A couple of days before the murder, Webb told Tim's girlfriend that the victim was wealthy, and he planned to knock him out to take his RV.

Earlier on the day of the murder, Adam and Tim went to Webb's RV to retrieve Adam's credit card and Tim's belongings. Upset that he could not locate his card, Adam ripped out several wires from the carburetor of Webb's RV.

Midway through trial, Webb was arraigned on a fourth amended information alleging a single count of murder and that he personally used a knife. The jury was instructed on second degree murder based on malice aforethought. ( CALCRIM No. 520.) It was also instructed on first degree felony-murder with the underlying felony being a kidnapping during a carjacking. (CALCRIM Nos. 540A & 540B.) Over the People's objection, the jury received an instruction on the necessity defense. ( CALCRIM No. 3403.)

*905The jury convicted Webb of first degree murder and made a true finding on the allegation that, in the commission of the offense, he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife. ( §§ 187, subd. (a), 12022, subd. (b)(1).) The court sentenced *253him to 25 years to life for the murder, plus 1 year for the weapon allegation. He received credit for time served of 700 actual days. Among other fines and fees, the court ordered restitution of $5,000 to reimburse the Victim Compensation Board for the victim's funeral expense.

DISCUSSION

The People concede that Webb is entitled to a restitution hearing on remand.3 We therefore focus our attention on Webb's remaining claims of instructional error. Webb argues the court had a sua sponte duty to instruct the jury on the defense of duress based on statements he made to Sheriff's deputies. He further contends that the court erred in instructing the jury it did not have to agree on the theory of murder under CALCRIM No. 548.

1. Duress

2. CALCRIM No. 548

"In a criminal case, a jury verdict must be unanimous. ... Additionally, the jury must agree unanimously the defendant is guilty of a specific crime." ( People v. Russo (2001) 25 Cal.4th 1124, 1132, 108 Cal.Rptr.2d 436, 25 P.3d 641.) "This requirement of unanimity as to the criminal act 'is intended to eliminate the danger that the defendant will be convicted even though there is no single offense which all jurors agree the defendant committed.' " ( Ibid. ) "On the other hand, where the evidence shows only a single discrete crime but leaves room for disagreement as to exactly how that crime was committed or what the defendant's precise role was, the jury need not unanimously agree on the basis, or as the cases often put it, the 'theory' whereby the defendant is guilty." ( Ibid . ) For example, to convict a defendant of first degree murder, the jury need not unanimously agree on whether it was premeditated or felony murder. ( Id. at p. 1133, 108 Cal.Rptr.2d 436,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 250, 25 Cal. App. 5th 901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-webb-calctapp5d-2018.