People v. Williams

California Court of Appeal·Decided November 20, 2020·No. A157917·Published

Opinion

Filed 11/20/20 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A157917 v. (Alameda County ALBERT ALVIN WILLIAMS, Super. Ct. No. 44828) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Albert Alvin Williams (Williams) appeals the denial of his Penal Code1 section 1170.95 2 petition to vacate his conviction for first degree murder and for resentencing. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Background The below facts are gleaned from documents in the record (including the information, minute orders for twelve days of trial, and sentencing transcript) along with our prior opinion affirming Williams’ murder conviction (People v. Williams (Mar. 2, 1971; 1 Crim. No. 8770) [nonpub. opn.] (Williams I)).

1 All further unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Section 1170.95 was enacted as part of Senate Bill No. 1437 (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015).

1 In the early morning hours of February 27, 1969, then 20-year- old Williams and two juvenile accomplices committed an attempted robbery of a delivery milkman in the course of which the milkman was fatally shot. The Alameda County District Attorney filed an information charging Williams with murder (§ 187) without further specification. Williams was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury that heard testimony from the People’s witnesses (including the two juvenile accomplices3) and defense witnesses (including Williams); 65 exhibits were introduced into evidence. The jury was instructed on felony murder and murder in the first degree and second degree. During deliberations, the jury, at its request, was reinstructed on first and second-degree murder. After conviction, Williams waived a jury trial on the possible imposition of the death penalty. At the November 1969 sentencing, the trial court rejected the death penalty and sentenced Williams to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. The trial court explained that it reviewed the probation report and determined the death penalty was not appropriate as the killing was not deliberate and premeditated, albeit senseless and cruel. Further, although there was “no question” in the trial court's mind that Williams was properly convicted “because the evidence was overwhelming that he was present at the scene and participated in the attempted robbery,” the trial court had “some doubt” that Williams “did the actual killing.”

3 By the time of the trial, the charges against the two juvenile accomplices had been resolved in Juvenile Court. They admitted to allegations of acts constituting attempted robbery and were committed to California Youth Authority facilities.

2 In January 1970, a section 1203.014 “Statement by Judge and District Attorney” (hereinafter “1203.01 statement”) signed by the trial judge and the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case was filed by the court clerk. The trial judge incorporated “by reference” the information and the sentencing transcript as setting forth his view of the case and Williams. The trial prosecutor stated as follows: “This defendant is responsible for a brutal, senseless killing in an aborted robbery where the defendant and two accomplices gained nothing material. The victim was shot and killed while running away from the defendant and his accomplices. At the time of the murder trial, the defendant had a 459 P.C. pending which was dismissed after his conviction. The defendant should serve maximum time prior to being considered for parole.”

The section 1203.01 statement included the following description of the crime.

4 Section 1203.01, subdivision (a) reads, in pertinent part, “Immediately after judgment has been pronounced, the judge and the district attorney, respectively, may cause to be filed with the clerk of the court a brief statement of their views respecting the person convicted or sentenced and the crime committed, together with any reports the probation officer may have filed relative to the prisoner. The judge and district attorney shall cause those statements to be filed if no probation officer’s report has been filed. The attorney for the defendant and the law enforcement agency that investigated the case may likewise file with the clerk of the court statements of their views respecting the defendant and the crime of which he or she was convicted.” This portion of section 1203.01 essentially reads as it did in 1969 when Williams was sentenced and 1970 when the section 1203.01 statement was filed in this case. The section 1203.01 statement was filed on behalf of the trial judge and the District Attorney; the record does not indicate whether a section 1203.01 statement was filed by either defense trial counsel or the law enforcement agency that prosecuted the case.

3 “On Thursday, February 27, 1969, at approximately 10:50 a.m., the victim . . . was delivering milk at . . . [a named market.] The victim was a route delivery salesman [for a named milk company]. The victim had just completed his delivery at the above location and had just finished pushing his dolly to the rear of the [parked] delivery truck. . . . It was at this point when he was confronted by the defendant and two juvenile codefendants. [The victim] made an attempt to flee by running [down a street]. There were three shots fired from a .25 [caliber] automatic pistol. The victim was struck once behind the left ear and was, as a result of the impact, knocked to the street. The victim was found in approximately the middle of [the] [s]treet . . . laying face down. The victim was transported to Highland Hospital and was pronounced dead at approximately 4:00 p.m. the same day he was shot. The three defendants were observed to run westbound . . . and southbound . . . . There was apparently no loss. [¶] The defendant’s participation in this offense as a principal was clearly established by the testimony of [two named witnesses] and [two named juvenile accomplices].”

We affirmed the conviction in an unpublished opinion, rejecting Williams’ constitutional challenge to the admission of testimony given under a grant of immunity. (Williams I, supra, at pp. 1-2; also rejecting challenge to the admission of evidence of witness identifications.) We found that Williams waived his argument regarding admission of the testimony given under a grant of immunity by failing to raise it to the trial court but also noted that: “the claim on the merits cannot be supported. The code section, which permits grant of immunity to a witness has repeatedly been held constitutionally valid (e.g. People v. Boeh[m] [(1969)] 270 Cal.App.2d 13, 21; People v. Northrup [(1962)] 203 Cal.App.2d 470, 474; People v. Fowler [(1953)] 119 Cal.App.2d 657, 664) and not subject to either of the attacks here made. We note that appellant held the murder weapon when it was fired, thus establishing

4 a reasonable basis for prosecuting him alone.” (Williams I, supra, at p. 1.) After serving seven years in prison, Williams was released on parole. Approximately two years later, in late 1979, he committed another murder. In 1980, Williams was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to a life term with the possibility of parole. II. Section 1170.95 Proceeding In March 2019, while serving his life sentence on the 1980 murder conviction, Williams, appearing in propria persona, sought to vacate his 1969 first-degree murder conviction by filing a verified petition under section 1170.95. He averred he was eligible and entitled to relief based on the following “facts” of the case. “In and around February 1969, two guys and myself, were at my home planning a robbery. We did not know what we were going to rob or even where. Across the street from my home was a corner market . . . .

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