People v. Johnson, s. S004778
| Citation | 3 Cal.4th 1183,14 Cal.Rptr.2d 702,842 P.2d 1 |
| Decision Date | 30 November 1992 |
| Docket Number | Nos. S004778,S012228 and C,s. S004778 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (California) |
| Parties | , 842 P.2d 1 PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Willie Darnell JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant. rim. 26412. |
[3 Cal.4th 1204] [842 P.2d 8] Marianne D. Bachers, Richard C. Neuhoff, Lynn S. Coffin, Susan K. Alexander, Joseph Schlesinger, Denise E. Anton and Janice L. Bergmann, San Francisco, under appointments by the Supreme Court, for defendant and appellant.
John K. Van de Kamp and Daniel E. Lungren, Attys. Gen., Richard B. Iglehart and George Williamson, Chief Asst. Attys. Gen., John H. Sugiyama, Asst. Atty. Gen., Herbert F. Wilkinson, Dane R. Gillette,
[3 Cal.4th 1205] PANELLI, Justice.
A jury convicted Willie Darnell Johnson of the murder of Mrs. Willie Womble (Pen.Code, § 187), 1 the attempted murder of Ms. Angela Womble ( §§ 187, 664), robbery in an inhabited dwelling (former § 213.5; see now § 212.5), and first degree burglary ( §§ 459, 460). Robbery and burglary felony-murder special-circumstance allegations were found true. ( § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i), (vii).) The jury also found that defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of these offenses ( § 12022.5) and inflicted great bodily injury in the commission of the attempted murder, the robbery, and the burglary ( § 12022.7). Following a penalty trial, the jury sentenced defendant to death. This appeal is automatic. ( § 1239, subd. (b).)
We affirm the judgment in its entirety.
We dismiss defendant's related appeal from a postjudgment order of the trial court (No. 12228).
GUILT PHASE FACTS
On July 1, 1986, Angela Womble lived with her mother, Mrs. Willie Womble, and her 16-month-old son, Terrance (Tee Tee), at 111 South 42nd Street in Richmond. Tee Tee's father was Angela's former boyfriend, Terrance (Tee) Henderson. Henderson was reputed to be a drug dealer.
While Angela was Henderson's girlfriend, she had held sums of money for him. After their relationship ended in August 1984, she never held money for him.
Angela cashed a paycheck from her job at the Social Security Administration on July 1, 1986. That evening, she set aside cash to pay bills, placing the appropriate amounts in payment envelopes which she put on a curio shelf in her kitchen.
About 9:45 or 10 p.m., Angela heard a knock at the front door. Her mother was talking on the telephone, and Angela went to the door to ask who was there. She heard someone answer, Angela again asked, "Who?" The man repeated himself. She recognized the voice as that of Allen Duchine, a friend of Terrance Henderson.
[3 Cal.4th 1206] Angela took the chain off the door and opened it. On her front porch were Duchine and another man whom she did not know. They were both carrying guns. She tried to close the door, but they pushed it in. The impact from the door knocked her onto the living room floor. Duchine entered, followed by the other man.
Angela sat on the floor for one or two minutes, looking at the men. At trial, she described the lighting conditions in her house at that moment. Although the porch light was off, lights were on in the breakfast nook outside the kitchen and in the bathroom. There was also a street light between the Womble house and the next house to the north. She did not remember whether lights in the kitchen or the living room were turned on.
At trial, Angela described Duchine as wearing jeans, a baseball cap, and a dark-colored jacket. Duchine was carrying a rifle about 22 1/2 inches in length. The other man, whom she later identified as defendant, was wearing a white T-shirt and jacket and a shiny stud earring. He was carrying a shotgun about 20 inches in length. The barrel of Duchine's rifle was about the size of a dime; that of defendant's shotgun about the size of a 50-cent piece.
After Angela was knocked to the ground, her mother ran to the living room and began to hit defendant, trying to force him to let go of his gun and demanding that he get out of her house. He pushed Mrs. Womble to the ground with his gun. Angela told her mother to stop and sit down.
Duchine demanded that Angela give him her money. She got up and went to the curio shelf, took the money out of the payment envelopes, and handed it to Duchine.
[842 P.2d 10] Mrs. Womble remained on the living room floor with defendant standing over herAngela returned to the living room and sat down. She was able to see defendant clearly. Duchine ordered her to give him all the money. Angela told him she had given him what she had, but Duchine demanded, "Where's Tee's money?" Angela said she did not have Tee's money. Duchine accused her of lying and again asked where the money was.
Angela, carrying Tee Tee, and Duchine went to Angela's mother's bedroom. Duchine rummaged through the room, looking for money. Angela left the bedroom to return to the living room. Duchine followed her. In the hallway outside the bedroom, he raised the stock of his rifle and knocked the cover from the hole leading to the attic.
Twenty seconds to a minute after Angela returned to the living room, Duchine also returned. Angela did not see where he had gone in the interim, [3 Cal.4th 1207] but later she discovered that various items in her bedroom had been moved. Duchine and defendant spoke to each other, but Angela could not hear what they said.
Defendant pumped the shotgun and fired it into the ceiling. Angela urged her mother to lie down. Defendant again fired up at the ceiling, then pointed his weapon down and fired into the back of Mrs. Womble's head. Angela testified that he fired a second time at Mrs. Womble. 2
Defendant and Duchine then pointed their weapons at Angela, who also had lain down on the floor. She tried to duck, and felt she had been shot. Ten or fifteen seconds later, defendant and Duchine left the house, closing the front door behind them.
Angela crawled to the front door, but could not open it. Tee Tee pulled the door open for her, and Angela screamed for help. Several neighbors responded. Angela told one of her neighbors she had been shot by Duchine and another man. A police officer arrived and asked Angela who had shot her. She named Duchine and described him, and said she did not know the other man, but gave a brief description of him.
Various neighbors of the Wombles testified to their observations on the night of the crimes. Willa Mae Addison, whose house faced the Womble residence, testified that while talking with her daughter on the telephone on the evening of July 1, 1986, she heard two sounds that she initially thought were firecrackers going off. Then she heard a third sound. Dropping the telephone, she looked out her bedroom window and saw two men emerging from the Womble residence. They ran along the side of the house into an alley, got into a white or cream-colored pickup truck, and drove away.
On hearing the telephone drop, Ms. Addison's daughter, Willie Marie Juniel, drove to her mother's house. Hearing Angela's cries for help, she stopped at the Womble residence to aid her. Ms. Juniel testified that there was sufficient light to enable her to see furniture in the living room. Darlyne Robinson, who also attempted to assist Angela, testified it was light enough in the Womble living room for her to see Tee Tee, who was standing beside the north wall, crying.
Richmond Police Officers deVille and Martin arrived at the Womble house about 10:10 p.m. According to Officer deVille, the living room was well lit and he had no difficulty seeing items inside it. Officers Simmons and Imrie arrived at the Womble residence soon after deVille and Martin. Angela [3 Cal.4th 1208] told them what had happened, describing both gunmen as Black, in their 20's, 6 feet tall, with black hair. She said she could identify them if she saw them.
Inside the house, Officers Simmons and Imrie could see well enough to make observations without using a flashlight or additional lighting. They found physical evidence including three expended shotgun shell casings beside Mrs. Womble's foot, bullet holes in the north wall and ceiling,
[842 P.2d 11] and bloodstains on the northeast curtain of the living roomEvidence showed that defendant and Duchine were together on the day of the crimes. Ketcia Hawkins, a friend of Angela Womble who was acquainted with defendant and Duchine, testified she saw the two men between 5 and 6 p.m. in the Easter Hill neighborhood in Richmond. Later that night, Hawkins received a telephone call from Angela's cousin, Bobby Jones, who told her about the crime. Between 10:30 and 11 p.m., Hawkins in turn called Zina Sims, defendant's cousin. Hawkins testified that while Hawkins remained on the line Sims dialed another party, using three-way calling. Hawkins recognized the third party's voice as that of Renee Morgan, defendant's sister. After Hawkins spoke with Morgan, Duchine came on the line. While Duchine was on the line, defendant also came on the line.
Zina Sims testified she received a telephone call from Ketcia Hawkins between 10 and 10:30 p.m. but denied placing any calls while Hawkins was on the line. Nonetheless, she testified that after talking with Hawkins, she called defendant's mother's house and spoke briefly with defendant's sister Renee Morgan. Later, Renee telephoned Sims. Both defendant and Duchine spoke with Sims during the latter call.
Richmond Detective Michael Shipp went to the house of defendant's mother, Valine Duckett, about 6 p.m. on July 2. He saw a tan pickup truck parked on the property. The truck was registered to Ms. Duckett.
Later on the evening of July 2, Detective Shipp interviewed Angela Womble at John Muir Hospital. She had difficulty breathing and was connected to an oxygen...
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