People v. Lewis

Citation47 Cal.Rptr.3d 467,39 Cal.4th 970,140 P.3d 775
Decision Date24 August 2006
Docket NumberNo. S033436.,S033436.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court (California)
PartiesThe PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Albert LEWIS and Anthony Cedric Oliver, Defendants and Appellants.

Eric S. Multhaup, Mill Valley, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant Albert Lewis.

Robert M. Myers, Sherman Oaks, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant Anthony Cedric Oliver.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Sharlene A. Honnaka and Alan D. Tate, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

BAXTER, J.

[140 P.3d 978]

A Los Angeles County jury convicted Albert Lewis and Anthony Cedric Oliver (defendants or Lewis and Oliver) of the first degree murders of Patrinella Luke and Eddie Mae Lee, and of the attempted murder of Peter Luke. (Pen.Code, §§ 187 subd. (a), 664.)1 The jury sustained allegations that defendants were armed with a firearm (shotgun), personally used a firearm, and personally inflicted great bodily injury in committing the charged crimes. (§§ 12022, subd. (a)(1), 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022.7.) The jury further found true a multiple-murder special circumstance allegation against each defendant. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3).) After a penalty trial, the jury returned a verdict of death against both defendants. The court denied defendants' motions for a new trial (§ 1181) and to modify the penalty verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)), and sentenced them to death. The present appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).)

The judgment will be affirmed in its entirety.2

I. FACTS
A. Guilt Phase

Two gunmen, each carrying a shotgun and hooded and dressed in black, raided the Mount Olive Church of God and Christ in Los Angeles on July 21, 1989. While one assailant stood guard and shot at a bystander outside, the other one entered and shot three churchgoers, two of whom died. Defendants were jointly charged with the crimes. They were tried in a single proceeding

[140 P.3d 979]

before the same jury. Oliver was 27 years old at the time of the capital crime. His half-brother, Lewis, was 33 years old at the time.

1. Prosecution Case

The prosecution presented evidence that Lewis, embittered toward his estranged wife, Cynthia Mizell, mounted an escalating campaign of terror against her and her family. It culminated in the murder of her cousin, Patrinella Luke, the wounding and near-killing of Peter Luke, who was Patrinella's husband, and the killing of Eddie Mae Lee, a friend of Mizell's. The evidence also showed that Oliver joined in the campaign of terror and personally committed the murders.

Lewis met Mizell in 1985. At the time, Mizell lived with her parents, Iva Worthen and Edward Worthen, in a four-unit apartment house on 77th Street in Los Angeles. Other family members lived in the same building. They included Mizell's aunt, Betty Bates.

When Mizell and Lewis met, he was living with Jeanett Hudson a short distance away on 77th Street. Lewis told Mizell that Hudson was a friend who, along with her daughter, was staying with him. In fact, Lewis was married to Hudson.

Lewis and Mizell married on June 25, 1988, in a wedding ceremony at the Mount Olive Church. Afterwards, the couple moved to a house on 117th Street. Lewis, who stayed married to Hudson without Mizell's knowledge, soon began to abuse Mizell. In September 1988, he attacked her with a knife, drawing blood, and threatened to kill her. Mizell moved out. Lewis asked her to return to their house. She complied.

In February 1989, Lewis, wearing a black "ninja"-style suit, attacked Mizell in their kitchen. He ordered her to leave, but apparently changed his mind and said that if she did so, he would kill everyone living in her family's apartment house. Mizell stayed.

In March 1989, Mizell moved out, but continued to see Lewis. One night during that month, Lewis met Mizell after her church choir practice. He drove her to an alley, held a knife to her throat, and threatened to kill her. He then drove her to her parents' home. Thereafter, he called and asked her to return to their house. In June 1989, she complied out of fear for her family's safety.

On June 22, 1989, Lewis and Mizell were living together. She complained to him about forgetting her birthday. He responded by slapping and choking

[140 P.3d 980]

her, and threatening to kill her. On June 25, shortly after this violent episode, Oliver moved into the couple's house, where he stayed until July 4. While there, Oliver was able to view Lewis and Mizell's wedding album. It contained pictures of her friends and relatives, and would have allowed him to memorize their likenesses.

Oliver told Mizell that Lewis was still married to Hudson. Mizell obtained Lewis and Hudson's marriage certificate from authorities in Las Vegas, Nevada, and confirmed that her own marriage was unlawful by reason of Lewis's existing marriage to Hudson. (See § 281.) Mizell ended her relationship with Lewis on July 18, 1989. She moved out of their home on that day, three days before the killings. Oliver helped her to move out.

Mizell's departure triggered threats of retaliation from Lewis. In a phone call on the evening of July 18, he promised to kill her. At some point the same day, Lewis bought a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun and Winchester shotgun shells. That night, at 10:00 p.m., he rented a red Mustang automobile.3

On the night of July 18, Mizell stayed at the 77th Street apartment of her parents in a state of fear. Mizell and her mother, Iva Worthen, were in the residence early on the morning of July 19, when someone torched Worthen's automobile, a 1984 Ford Tempo. It was parked on the street outside. Defendants knew that Mizell sometimes drove the Ford. According to prosecution witnesses, a neighbor, Barbara Johnson, had seen the arsonist and described him as a Black male driving a red Mustang.

Later in the day on July 19, 1989, Mizell enlisted the help of the police to retrieve her automobile, a maroon Datsun 200SX, from the home she had shared with Lewis. Her car was blocked by another vehicle. The police extracted Oliver from the house, drawing their guns on him at one point. He was furious with Mizell, saying, in her words, "You let the police in on me." Mizell's mother, Iva Worthen, was present. She described Oliver as "very, very upset and shouting and ranting and raving and . . . cursing." Oliver left the scene in a red Mustang that Mizell did not recognize.4 A license plate check revealed that the Mustang was registered to the Hertz Corporation. One police officer, Bret Richards, testified that he saw a pair of black leather gloves inside the Mustang.

[140 P.3d 981]

Also on July 19, Mizell obtained a temporary restraining order against Lewis. The order directed him to stay away from her, many of her relatives (each identified by name), and the Mount Olive Church. The order was served on Lewis on July 22, 1989, the day after the killings. It was entered into evidence by stipulation.

On July 20, 1989, someone used a firearm to vandalize a new Buick Skylark automobile belonging to Betty Bates, Mizell's aunt. The windows of the Buick were shot out by shotgun blasts. Shell casings found at the scene came from rounds fired from Lewis's Mossberg shotgun.

In response to these events, Mizell and several relatives decided to go to Las Vegas for their own safety. These plans were disclosed to few other people. The family left on the morning of July 21, 1989, and was in Las Vegas when the murders occurred in Los Angeles. Shortly before the family's trip, the fire department called and told Iva Worthen that Mizell's Datsun 200SX automobile had been destroyed by fire. Fire department investigators testified that the car fire had been deliberately set.

The murders took place on Friday evening, July 21, 1989, in the annex of the Mount Olive Church. Mizell and Lewis, and Mizell's family, regularly attended services at the church. Oliver had no ties to the church and never went there. Mizell, who had been the church organist for some time, ordinarily performed on Friday nights between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in the annex. Had she and her family not fled to Las Vegas, they would have been present for the services that evening.

About 70 people were in attendance, including 30 children. Two parishioners, Melvin Earl Johnson and Ruth Johnson, waited outside the church around 8:30 p.m. for Melvin Johnson's daughter and niece to emerge. Another parishioner, Larry Brown, also was outside. These witnesses saw two Black men wearing dark clothing and hoods, and carrying shotguns — one with a pistol grip. The pair came from a car that had circled nearby moments before with its headlights off. It was dark outside at the time.

The taller, heavier, and darker man (Oliver) approached the porch of the church, and covered his face with a hood or mask. Oliver, in his black clothing and armed with a shotgun, confronted Brown, who jumped over a ledge and bolted away in fear of his life. The smaller, lighter-skinned gunman (Lewis) was standing guard with his own shotgun. He shot twice at Brown, missing him.

Oliver entered the church while Lewis stood guard outside with his shotgun. Oliver walked calmly up and down the aisle and seemed to be

[140 P.3d 982]

looking for particular worshipers. He wore black gloves with all or part of the fingers removed. Though Mizell and certain family members were out of town, other relatives and friends were present. Oliver shot and killed Mizell's cousin, 35-year-old Patrinella Luke, by inflicting a head wound at close range. Oliver also killed 76-year-old Eddie Mae Lee, Mizell's friend, shooting her in the back as she tried to flee. Oliver shot and wounded Patrinella's husband, Peter Luke, who suffered permanent, severe, and painful injuries as a result. Oliver then "calmly walked out like [there] was nothing to it," according to one...

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