People v. Holmes
| Citation | 12 Cal.5th 719,503 P.3d 668,289 Cal.Rptr.3d 582 |
| Decision Date | 31 January 2022 |
| Docket Number | S058734 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Karl HOLMES, Herbert McClain and Lorenzo Newborn, Defendants and Appellants. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (California) |
12 Cal.5th 719
503 P.3d 668
289 Cal.Rptr.3d 582
The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Karl HOLMES, Herbert McClain and Lorenzo Newborn, Defendants and Appellants.
S058734
Supreme Court of California.
January 31, 2022
Eric S. Multhaup, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant Lorenzo Newborn.
Debra S. Sabah Press and Charles J. Press, San Francisco, under appointments by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant Herbert McClain.
Karen Kelly, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant Karl Holmes.
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Dane R. Gillette and Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Pamela C. Hamanaka and James William Bilderback II, Assistant Attorneys General, Sharlene A. Honnaka, Dana M. Ali, Jaime L. Fuster and Seth P. McCutcheon, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Opinion of the Court by Corrigan, J.
On Halloween night in 1993, a group of young teenagers walking home from a party
were mistaken for gang members and became the target of gunfire. Three were killed. Defendants Karl Holmes, Herbert McClain, and Lorenzo Newborn1 were each convicted of three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.2 Special circumstances for lying in wait and multiple murder were found true as to each murder count.3 The jury found that Holmes was armed with a firearm in committing the offenses4 but found firearm allegations not true as to the other defendants. McClain was convicted of an additional attempted murder, with personal use of a firearm, based on an earlier incident.5
After the jury failed to reach a penalty verdict, that phase was retried, and death verdicts were returned against all defendants. In addition, the court imposed life sentences on all attempted murder counts, 25-year-to-life sentences on the conspiracy counts, and five-year sentences on the firearm enhancements.6 We affirm the judgment in its entirety.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Guilt Phase
1. October 28 Attempted Murder of Robert Price (McClain Only)
McClain was a member of the Bloods gang, P-9. Robert Price was a member of the rival gang, Raymond Avenue Crips. On October 28, 1993, McClain encountered Price, as he left the Community Arms apartment complex. The men had seen each other before but never spoken. McClain asked Price for a cigarette. When Price gave him one, McClain responded, "Thank you, Blood," then shot Price in the face with a .380-caliber handgun. As Price tried to flee, McClain fired several shots, hitting Price twice in the back.
Price survived and was interviewed at the hospital where he refused to identify his assailant. He later identified McClain from a six-person photo lineup and again during both grand jury and trial testimony. Although warned by McClain not to testify, Price did so in exchange for a promise to relocate his family.
2. October 31 Shootings
a. Shooting of Fernando Hodges and Hospital Gathering
Three evenings later, on October 31, 1993, P-9 gang member Fernando Hodges was shot at the Community Arms basketball court, and taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he died. Police believed one of the Raymond Avenue Crips was responsible.
Holmes and Solomon Bowen joined a large crowd of Hodges's family and friends at the hospital. Around 20 to 30 people attired in hooded sweatshirts and baggy clothing gathered outside the emergency room but did not enter the hospital. A hospital security officer believed they were gang members. After an older man at the center of the group seemed to give "some
direction or guidance, possibly orders," the group left.
b. Activities Before the Wilson Street Shootings
After Bowen left the hospital, he and Newborn went to Willie McFee's house. They were armed and looking for Raymond Avenue Crips (Crips) gang member Dion Nelson, known as "Crazy D." Newborn cried and said his close friend, Hodges, had been killed. McFee declined to say where Crazy D lived. Newborn and Bowen left, joining several men running toward some railroad tracks. McFee called Crazy D to warn him.
Less than five minutes later, McFee heard multiple gunshots from near the tracks. A second series of gunshots, apparently from a different weapon, came from near Crazy D's house. Shots were also fired toward McFee's home. A bullet struck his air conditioning unit and two shell casings were found nearby.
c. Shootings on Wilson Street
Earlier that night, 14-year-old Reggie Crawford, 13-year-old Edgar Evans, and 13-year-old Stephen Coats attended a Halloween birthday party in Pasadena. Around 10:00 p.m., they left with Coats's brother, Kenneth, and seven other boys.7 As they walked to the Coats home, a car carrying four or five Hispanic men sped by and turned from North Wilson Street (hereafter Wilson Street) onto Villa. Immediately afterward, four or five cars "packed full" of Black men drove down Villa toward Wilson Street. These men displayed P-9 gang signs and swerved near the curb as they passed by. One witness said three of these cars were dark-colored compacts, and another recalled that one was tan or grey. Holmes owned a grey Ford Tempo.
About three minutes later, three boys left the group of departing party goers. Crawford, Evans, and the Coats brothers continued walking down Wilson Street with Lawrence A., Lloyd S., A.A., and A.P. As they walked, Stephen and Kenneth's mother, Deborah Bush, drove by and offered her sons a ride home, but they declined. Stephen joked that Bush drove so slowly he could get home sooner on foot. As they continued on, Stephen, Crawford, and A.A. sang a song called "Gangster Lean." When the song ended, Kenneth heard a deep male voice say, "Now, Blood."
Shots erupted. Several witnesses described what happened. Lloyd heard a single boom followed by approximately 20 gunshots and saw blue sparks pass by his feet. Initially he thought the noise and sparks came from "a pack of firecrackers." He and A.A hid behind a brick barbeque. A.A. had been shot in the hand. Lawrence also hid when he heard the gunshots. When the firing stopped, he emerged and called out to his friends. No one responded, but a figure stood nearby. Gunfire resumed. Lawrence retreated to his hiding spot but was shot in the leg as he ran.
Kenneth also initially thought the gunshots were firecrackers. He and his friends kept walking until they noticed Evans holding his stomach. Evans cried, "Mama," and began crawling away. Stephen then pushed Kenneth away and said, "I'm hit." As he tried to hide, Kenneth saw the outline of two figures. One was taller and heavier and wore his hair in braids. The figures ran toward Orange Grove.
The three boys who had split from the group earlier ran back to their friends when the firing stopped. Crawford and
Stephen lay unmoving. Kenneth screamed, "They shot my brother!" and "Let me to him." Evans lay on some stairs, still calling for his mother. A.P. sat in a driveway, shot in the leg.
Lloyd knocked on a nearby door and asked to use the phone. He called his mother while the homeowner called police. Bush had heard the shots as she pulled into her driveway and ran back down the street toward her sons. When she arrived at the scene, she found two boys on the ground. Crawford had no pulse. Bush saw that her son Stephen "had a bullet in his head and ... was already gone." She never saw Evans. Kenneth ran up to her, crying "I want my brother. Please don't let this be my brother." Bush's daughter arrived and covered Stephen's body with a jacket. Paramedics and police arrived shortly thereafter.
Stephen sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Crawford was struck by three to five rounds and died from a shot to his chest. Evans died from a similar wound.
d. Eyewitnesses
Gabriel Pina and Lillian Gonzales were walking their dog around 10:00 p.m. when four cars sped past and turned out of sight. The couple later saw most of the cars parked on a different street with a large group of people gathered nearby. The lead car reversed down the street toward them, stopped, then drove back up the street again. Pina identified the lead driver as McClain. A few minutes later, the couple heard gunshots. A gunman in a trench coat ran from Wilson Street and got into a car. Pina identified the fleeing man as Holmes.
Jessica Ramirez, who lived near Wilson Street, saw two stopped cars and a group of Black men. Shortly thereafter, she heard what she thought were fireworks or gunshots.
e. Ballistics Evidence
Multiple nine-millimeter and .38- or .357-caliber shell casings and fragments, along with live .38-caliber rounds, were recovered from locations on Wilson Street. Expended nine-millimeter casings and a live .38-caliber round were also recovered from North Pasadena Avenue (Pasadena Avenue) near McFee's house. The live round found on Pasadena Avenue and the three live rounds collected on Wilson Street were .38-special wad cutter bullets made by PMC Company. Almost all of the nine-millimeter casings at both locations were fired from the same weapon. The bullets recovered from the bodies of Crawford and Stephen Coats were both .38- or .357-caliber, but they had been fired from different weapons.
3. Conduct After the Shootings
a. Holmes
In December 1993, Derrick Tate met Holmes while visiting a friend, Terranius "T" Pitts. Holmes wore a P-9 hat and talked about the Halloween shootings saying they were in retaliation for the Crips’ killing of Hodges. He described hiding in bushes, jumping out, yelling "trick-or-treat," and opening fire on a group. He claimed he planned to get a hat made that said "trick-or-treat." Holmes said McClain was not involved in the shootings. According to Tate, McClain had suggested he and Tate leave California together. McClain was also considering "turn[ing] himself in" because "[h]e was tired of running."
Tate revealed this information while incarcerated on a joyriding charge, ultimately serving time for that offense. He...
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