People v. Lewis

• Decision Date: 17 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. S018665.,S018665.
• Citation: 22 P.3d 392,106 Cal.Rptr.2d 629,25 Cal.4th 610
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Milton Otis LEWIS, Defendant and Appellant.

106 Cal.Rptr.2d 629

25 Cal.4th 610

22 P.3d 392

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Milton Otis LEWIS, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S018665.

Supreme Court of California.

May 17, 2001.

Rehearing Denied June 27, 2001.

Marc D. Stolman, Tiburon, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren and Bill Lockyer, Attorneys General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Assistant Attorney General, William G. Prahl and Mathew Chan, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

KENNARD, J.

A jury convicted defendant Milton Otis Lewis of one count of first degree murder (Pen.Code, § 187),¹ and found true the special circumstance allegations of robbery murder (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(i) [now subd. (a)(17)(A)]), and burglary murder (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(vii) [now subd. (a)(17)(G)]). The jury also convicted defendant of two counts of robbery, one count of burglary, and one count of attempted murder. At the penalty phase, the jury returned a verdict of death for the first degree murder with special circumstances. After denying defendant's automatic motion to modify the death verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)), the trial court sentenced defendant to death for the first degree murder, and to a total determinate term of 21 years in state prison for the remaining counts.

Defendant's appeal to this court is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We will affirm the judgment in its entirety.

I. FACTS

A. The Prosecution's Guilt Phase Evidence

In December 1988, James and Helen Rumsey lived in a unit of the Shasta Pines Apartments in Redding. Marie Baker, a methamphetamine user, lived in another unit in the same building. Staying with Baker at that time was 15-year-old Amy Hadix, who also used methamphetamine regularly.

June Rice, another renter at the Shasta Pines Apartments, sold drugs from her apartment. On December 21, 1988, defendant, who knew Rice and was a methamphetamine user, came to Rice's apartment with a man who wanted to sell some drugs. Rice directed them to Baker's apartment.

On December 24, 1988, around 10:00 or 11:00 a.m., the Rumseys came to Baker's apartment to give her back some money they owed her. In defendant's presence, James Rumsey pulled a wallet from his back pocket and removed $50, which he handed to Baker. A short time later, also in defendant's presence, Baker's eight-year-old daughter commented on James Rumsey's money, saying, "Oh, Mom, he's got gobs."

Later that day, defendant went to June Rice's apartment and bought a halfgram of methamphetamine with money he had taken from a man after a fistfight in Baker's apartment. After injecting the drugs, he told Rice they were "decent." When he returned to Baker's apartment, however, he complained to Baker and Hadix that the drugs were no good. They told him to return to Rice's apartment to get either more drugs or his money back. When Hadix said she was going downstairs to visit another renter, defendant went with her.

As Hadix passed the Rumseys' first floor apartment, she noticed the door was ajar, and she greeted James, who was seated in an easy chair just inside the doorway. Suddenly, defendant jumped on James and stuck a knife in his neck. He then reached into James's back pocket, pulled out his wallet and opened it, but found no money in it.

When Helen Rumsey tried to come to her husband's aid, defendant kicked her hard in the groin area, causing her to fall. As she got up, defendant thrust the knife into her throat, and she fell to the floor again. Defendant returned to James and tried to reach into the front pocket of his pants, but he was unsuccessful. He turned James's body over and retrieved a pocketknife from his back pocket. Defendant then picked up a gun belonging to James from a nearby table and held it to Helen's forehead as she struggled to her knees. Yelling obscenities at her, defendant threatened to shoot unless he got some money. He pulled the trigger, and Helen heard a click. She then crawled to where James was lying, opened the wallet defendant had looked in but discarded, and removed $250 in $50 bills that had been hidden in a secret compartment. After Helen handed defendant the money, he picked up James's pocketknife and gun, grabbed the knife he had brought with him, and walked out the door.

Meanwhile, Hadix had run to Tim Smith's apartment and told him that defendant was killing the Rumseys. A few minutes later, defendant appeared at Smith's door and told Hadix to come with him to June Rice's apartment. On arrival, defendant pulled James's gun from his pocket and pointed it at Rice, complaining about "bunk dope." Hadix ran to the bathroom in fright but came out a minute later after hearing a neighbor yell that Helen Rumsey had been stabbed. She ran to Baker's apartment, and defendant followed.

Once back inside Baker's apartment, defendant went to the kitchen to wash blood from his hands. He ordered Baker to hold the gun for him, but she refused. Defendant then handed Baker $250 in $50 bills and told her to hold the money for him. He told Hadix to come with him, and they left. Baker later found defendant's buck knife on her kitchen counter. She wrapped it and threw it away. As to the money defendant had left with her, she spent $50 on groceries and the rest on methamphetamine.

After leaving Baker's apartment, defendant, accompanied by Hadix, hid the gun in a shed behind the apartment complex. They then proceeded to a garbage bin belonging to a nearby church. Defendant opened the lid, threw Hadix inside, and then jumped in himself. They hid there for six or seven hours. During this time, Hadix asked defendant why he had killed James Rumsey. Defendant replied, "It had to be done." The next morning, defendant and Hadix returned to the shed to retrieve the gun, and, at Hadix's suggestion, they went to her parents' home, which was close by.

Shortly thereafter, the police arrived at the home of Hadix's parents. When Hadix's father opened the door for the officers, defendant fled into the bathroom. Defendant ignored the officers' orders to put his gun down and come out. Forty-five minutes later, defendant emerged, leaving the gun in the bathroom.

An autopsy showed that James Rumsey died from hemorrhaging caused by a fiveinch-deep knife wound to the front of the neck. Helen Rumsey sustained knife wounds to the side and back of her neck; one of these wounds was directly over the carotid artery.

Forensic testing showed that the gun retrieved from the bathroom of Hadix's parents' home was the gun taken from the Rumseys' apartment. The gun held a full magazine, but there was no round in the chamber.

B. The Defense Guilt Phase Case

Testifying in his own defense, defendant said he had gone to Baker's apartment for the first time on December 21, 1988, accompanied by a friend who wanted to sell Baker some methamphetamine. Defendant was homeless and had no money, so he stayed with Baker for the next three days. During that time, there was drug use and constant activity in the apartment, and defendant neither slept nor ate.

On December 24, just after dark, defendant bought methamphetamine from June Rice and injected it while still in her apartment. Five minutes later, he bought more methamphetamine from Rice's companion and, again, promptly injected it. The drugs had an immediate and powerful effect. When he went back to Baker's apartment, he told Baker he had bought drugs from Rice and the drugs were "decent." Baker was angry with defendant for not sharing the drugs with her and suggested he get some more drugs from Rice by complaining that what he had bought was no good. Feeling badgered and upset, defendant left the apartment with Hadix to see Rice. Defendant carried a steak knife in his hand in case he encountered violence at Rice's apartment. On the way, Hadix harangued him about getting more drugs.

When he and Hadix came to the Rumseys' apartment, defendant mistakenly believed it was Rice's apartment. He became confused and could feel himself "ball up inside" because he was afraid he was going to be attacked by Rice's companion. Suddenly, he heard a whirring sound and saw James Rumsey start to get out of his chair by the door. Defendant became scared and stabbed him once, not knowing whom he was stabbing. When Helen Rumsey rushed at him, he stabbed her also.

Defendant recalled removing James's wallet and not finding any money in it. He admitted yelling at Helen, "Bitch, if you don't get me more money, I'll get you, too." He also remembered that after Helen handed him the money from the wallet, he picked up James's gun from the table, but he denied pointing it at Helen's forehead and pulling the trigger.

Defendant remembered leaving the Rumseys' apartment and proceeding to Rice's residence. Once inside, he pulled out the gun and demanded more drugs. About a minute later, he was interrupted when a neighbor came to the door seeking help for the Rumseys.

When defendant returned to Baker's apartment, he dropped the knife in the sink full of dishwater. At Baker's direction, he put the knife in the garbage, which he and Hadix took and disposed of on their way out.

When called as a defense witness, the investigating officer, Sergeant Lebak, testified that Hadix had told him of entering the Rumseys' apartment with defendant.

C. The Penalty Phase

At the penalty phase of the trial, the prosecution presented evidence of six incidents of unadjudicated violent criminal activity, one robbery that resulted in a felony conviction, and a felony drug conviction.

In December 1971, a police officer saw defendant fighting with a woman on a street corner in Los Angeles. Defendant shook the woman, threw her to the sidewalk, struck her in the head with his fist, and knocked her against an apartment building, rendering her unconscious. Defendant resisted arrest, and the officer used a choke hold to subdue him.

July 1980, around 10:00 p.m., defendant entered a liquor store in Southgate...