People v. Armstrong

Decision Date04 February 2019
Docket NumberS126560
Parties The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jamelle Edward ARMSTRONG, Defendant and Appellant.
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court

Glen Niemy, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris and Xavier Becerra, Attorneys General, Dane R. Gillette and Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Keith H. Borjon, Joseph P. Lee and Yun K. Lee, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

CORRIGAN, J.

After a jury convicted defendant Jamelle Edward Armstrong of kidnapping, robbing, raping, torturing, and murdering Penny Sigler, it returned a death verdict.

On automatic appeal, we affirm Armstrong’s convictions but reverse his death sentence because, under the standards of Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968) 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 and Wainwright v. Witt (1985) 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841, multiple prospective jurors were improperly excused for cause.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Guilt Phase Trial

On the night of December 29, 1998, Penny Sigler, a 45-year-old Long Beach woman, was attacked and killed by three strangers: Kevin Pearson, Armstrong, and Armstrong’s older half-brother, Warren Hardy. Each of them was tried separately, convicted, and sentenced to death. We have previously resolved the Hardy and Pearson appeals. (See People v. Hardy (2018) 5 Cal.5th 56, 233 Cal.Rptr.3d 378, 418 P.3d 309 ; People v. Pearson (2012) 53 Cal.4th 306, 135 Cal.Rptr.3d 262, 266 P.3d 966.)

1. Prosecution Evidence

Sigler lived with her husband and Joseph O’Brien in Long Beach. On the evening of December 29, 1998, O’Brien asked Sigler to buy him cereal and milk. She took the food stamps he offered and left on foot between 10:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. She never returned.

The following morning, a Caltrans worker found Sigler’s body on an embankment near the 405 Freeway. The body was in an area surrounded by a chain link fence and concrete retaining wall. The body would have been difficult to see from the road. There were blood spatters and drag marks near the corpse. Shoe impressions were later identified as similar to the treads on Hardy’s and Pearson’s shoes. Police noted a broken wooden stake at the base of a nearby fence and recovered a food stamp book cover matching the serial number of the stamps O’Brien had given Sigler.

Sigler died from asphyxiation

and multiple other injuries. Before she died, she suffered 11 broken bones, 20 distinct internal injuries, and 94 separate external injuries. Her right ear was partially torn. Lacerations and bruising of the genitalia were consistent with forcible penetration. A large wooden splinter was embedded in her vaginal tissue.

Pearson, Hardy, and Armstrong were arrested the following week, and Armstrong confessed. Detective Steven Lasiter related remarks Armstrong made before the taping of his statement began. The taped confession was played for the jury.

Armstrong told investigators that he, Pearson, and Hardy were drinking with others at the house of a friend, Monte Gmur, on the night of December 29. Sometime after 10:00 p.m., Pearson, Hardy, and Armstrong left. After failing to find someone to buy alcohol for them, the three decided to go to the home of Hardy’s girlfriend in Los Angeles. They rode a metro train to its last stop, then proceeded toward a bus stop. Walking under the 405 Freeway, Armstrong called out, "I can’t wait ‘til ’99." A female voice responded. The three men approached the woman, Sigler, who said something like, "I hate you." Hardy offered Sigler money for oral sex. Sigler said no, pushed past Pearson and Hardy, and slapped Armstrong as she went by.

Sigler reached a leafy area near the street, turned, and stuck out the middle fingers of both hands. Using racial slurs, she said, "I hope they kill you all."

Pearson ran toward her, saying, "I’m fixing to BKC this bitch." Armstrong explained that "BKC" was a Long Beach term, "bitch killer connect," for someone the speaker did not like who might get beaten up. Pearson punched Sigler and knocked her down. Armstrong and Hardy walked toward them. Armstrong heard Pearson say, "Give me your money." Pearson went through Sigler’s pockets, found food stamps, then started to remove her pants. When she struggled, he asked Hardy and Armstrong to hold her arms and legs. They did so. Pearson removed Sigler’s pants and asked where her money was. He tore open her shirt and underwear, then unzipped his pants and asked for a condom. Hardy stood off to the side. Armstrong was still holding Sigler’s arms and said it appeared Pearson was engaging in intercourse.

After he finished, Pearson said, "This ain’t over yet bitch. Let’s kill this bitch." He kicked and stomped her in the chest and face. Armstrong also kicked her several times. She made gurgling, moaning noises. Armstrong recognized Sigler was in considerable pain.

Pearson asked what to do with Sigler, then told Armstrong to jump over a chain link fence and hold it down so they could move her behind it. When Pearson and Hardy hoisted Sigler over the fence, she landed head first in a concrete ditch. Pearson dragged her 20 feet to a dark spot. He tripped over and broke off a three-foot long wooden stake. Using the stake, he hit Sigler five to 15 times with a two-handed grip, swinging as hard as he could. Sigler blinked and moaned in response to the blows. Pearson then inserted the stake in Sigler’s vagina, pulling it in and out. Hardy took the stake and did the same. When Sigler finally made no more noise, Armstrong held a lighter to her face and saw her eyes close.

Pearson and Armstrong moved the body further up the embankment toward the freeway. Armstrong threw away the stake and a trash bag filled with Sigler’s clothes. The three men caught a bus and spent the night at the residence of Hardy’s girlfriend.

Blood on a pair of Armstrong’s overalls matched Sigler’s DNA. A stain on his shirt contained his own semen and blood from an indeterminate source.

Armstrong’s girlfriend, Jeanette Carter, testified that a week after the murder Armstrong told her he had done something very bad. He said Pearson had beaten and raped a woman and put a stick in her vagina while Armstrong held her down. A tape of an earlier police interview of Carter was also played during which she related similar admissions by Armstrong.

Keith Kendrick, a friend of Pearson’s and Armstrong’s, testified he was with them when they saw a news report of the murder. Kendrick, to whom Pearson had already confessed, said, "I know who did that. [¶] ... [¶] Killer Kev did it." Armstrong whispered to Pearson, "How did he know?" and then sat silently as Pearson recounted the details.

2. Defense Evidence

Armstrong was the sole defense witness. He conceded he had been with Pearson and Hardy during the crimes but minimized his role.

The three men were out walking the night of December 29, 1998. Armstrong was in a good mood and yelled out, "We are going to have a Happy New Year for ’99." He then heard Sigler yell from across the street, "Fuck you niggers." Hardy walked across the street toward Sigler. Pearson and Armstrong followed. Sigler and the three men were the only ones on the street. Armstrong thought Sigler was on drugs.

Hardy offered Sigler $50 to perform fellatio on all three men, but Armstrong knew he was joking because Hardy did not have that much money. Sigler ran past him, turned, displayed the middle fingers of each hand, and said, "Fuck you niggers. You niggers should die." Pearson ran up to Sigler and struck her in the face. Armstrong held her down because Pearson demanded he do so. He saw Pearson go through her clothes, but Armstrong did not intend to steal from her. He saw Pearson take food stamps from Sigler’s pocket and place them in his own. When Pearson stopped going through Sigler’s clothes, Armstrong let her go.

When Pearson renewed the assault, kicking and stomping Sigler, Armstrong said they should leave. He did not leave by himself because he had no money for bus fare. Armstrong held Sigler down again at Pearson’s direction. Armstrong never kicked Sigler himself, but at one point while restraining her he had his foot on her chest and pushed her with his foot. Armstrong did not try to stop Pearson because he feared Pearson would turn on him. When Pearson raped Sigler, Armstrong was standing behind him, not holding Sigler down. Pearson and Hardy threw Sigler over the chain link fence. Armstrong thought the attack was scandalous and animal-like, but helped Pearson move Sigler up the embankment. He threw away both the stake and Sigler’s clothes because Pearson told him to, and because he was afraid of Pearson. The encounter lasted around 30 minutes.

3. Charges and Guilt Phase Verdict

Pearson, Hardy, and Armstrong were tried separately. (See People v. Pearson , supra , 53 Cal.4th 306, 135 Cal.Rptr.3d 262, 266 P.3d 966 ; People v. Hardy , supra , 5 Cal.5th 56, 233 Cal.Rptr.3d 378, 418 P.3d 309.)

Armstrong was charged with various counts of murder, kidnapping, robbery, rape, and torture, with six attendant special circumstances.1 Armstrong was also charged with kidnapping and torture as sentence enhancements. (§ 667.61, subds. (a), (d).) The jury convicted Armstrong on every count and found every special allegation true, except for the special circumstance that Armstrong committed murder during a kidnapping.

B. Penalty Phase Trial
1. Prosecution Evidence

Monte Gmur testified that on the evening of the murder, Pearson asked him if Pearson, Hardy, and Armstrong could use a bedroom to initiate a man named Chris into their gang. Gmur refused because he did not want a violent initiation ritual in his house. The three men left for 15 to 20 minutes. When they returned, Hardy borrowed Gmur’s phone to call a man named Capone and tell him Chris was "cool" and would be called "Playboy."

Janisha Williams, a childhood friend of Armstrong’s, testified he was a...

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