People v. Malone
| Decision Date | 03 November 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. S004553,S004553 |
| Citation | 47 Cal.3d 1,252 Cal.Rptr. 525,762 P.2d 1249 |
| Court | California Supreme Court |
| Parties | , 762 P.2d 1249 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Kelvin Shelby MALONE, Defendant and Appellant. Crim. 23155. |
Frank O. Bell, Jr., State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Monica Knox, Acting State Public Defender, Edward H. Schulman, Chief Asst. State Public Defender, and Nancy Gaynor, Deputy State Public Defender, for defendant and appellant.
John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., Steve White, Chief Asst. Atty. Gen., Harley D. Mayfield, Asst. Atty. Gen., Frederick R. Millar, Jr. and Jay M. Bloom, Deputy Attys. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.
This is an automatic appeal from a judgment of death imposed under the 1978 law. (Pen.Code, § 190.1 et seq.; see id., § 1239, subd. (b).) 1 Defendant was convicted of kidnapping for the purpose of robbery ( § 209), robbery ( § 211) and first degree murder ( §§ 187, 189). The jury found true the firearm use allegations ( § 12022.5) and the special circumstance allegations that the murder had been committed during a robbery and a kidnapping ( § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i), (ii)). In a separate proceeding the jury also found true the special circumstance allegation that defendant had previously been convicted of a first degree murder. ( § 190.2, subd. (a)(2).) The jury fixed punishment at death. The court ordered the prison terms imposed on the kidnapping for robbery and robbery charges stayed pending imposition of the death penalty. We affirm the judgment in its entirety.
Myrtle Benham was beaten to death in an abandoned shack in the desert near Daggett, California, on March 20, 1981. The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department found her body one week later. She was lying face down and nude below the waist. Some of her clothing was around her left foot.
In a seemingly unrelated incident, defendant and Michael Crenshaw were arrested on March 24, 1981, in San Jose. Two San Jose police officers observed Crenshaw and defendant sleeping in a car while the engine was running. When the officers approached the car and asked defendant, the driver, to get out, defendant drove away, knocking one officer to the ground. Defendant and Crenshaw were arrested after a high speed chase that culminated in their car colliding with a police car.
During the chase a .25-caliber Raven automatic pistol was thrown from the car. A .25-caliber Galesi pistol was found under the driver's seat. Credit cards in the names of Minnie Ola White and Jim Rankin were found in the car, as were two tape recorders belonging to Jim Rankin. When defendant was booked, he had in his possession rings belonging to Benham and White.
Prosecution Evidence. Crenshaw testified at the preliminary hearing, but at trial asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege and refused to testify. The court determined Crenshaw was unavailable as a witness and allowed his preliminary hearing testimony to be read to the jury.
Crenshaw testified he and defendant were driving from Las Vegas on March 20, 1981, when they stopped in Baker at an Exxon gas station where Benham worked. Defendant emerged from the car with a pistol in each hand, took the money and cash drawer from the register and ordered Benham into the car trunk. Defendant eventually stopped the car near a shack in the desert and told Crenshaw he was going to "take the lady inside" and have sex with her. When Crenshaw later went inside the shack, he saw defendant, his pants down, lying on top of Benham. Benham was face down, nude below the waist. Defendant hit her in the head with a pipe, then left the area with Crenshaw. After driving to Barstow, the two burned the car.
Much of Crenshaw's testimony was corroborated by Charles Laughlin, who claimed to have spoken with defendant on several occasions while the two were in jail.
Evidence was admitted showing defendant had been convicted of the first degree murder of White. On March 21, 1981, the day after the Benham murder, White's body was found 14 miles north of Blythe (near Vidal Junction, California) in the trunk of her car. She had been killed by a bullet from the Raven automatic pistol thrown from the car during the March 24 chase in San Jose. A piece of skin tissue consistent with White's blood type was found on defendant's trousers when he was arrested. Laughlin testified defendant told him that while driving to California he and Crenshaw had noticed an apparently abandoned car. When they approached the car they found an elderly woman in the front seat. They forced her into the trunk, shot her and took her money and valuables.
At the time defendant and Crenshaw kidnapped Benham, they were driving a car belonging to Rankin. Rankin was last seen at a Kansas city restaurant on March 18, 1981. Laughlin testified defendant told him about kidnapping a man in Kansas City, putting the man in the trunk of his own car, taking his money and jewelry and then driving off to California.
Combs testified that when he saw defendant on March 11, 1981, he was alone and in possession of two firearms--the Raven and Galesi pistols.
Defense Evidence. The defense introduced evidence of a polygraph test indicating defendant did not himself kill Benham, but he had been present. Evidence was also presented that Crenshaw had pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of White.
Defendant testified in his own behalf. He admitted he had escaped from Monterey County jail and on March 11, 1981, had kidnapped Combs. Defendant forced Combs to drive to Los Angeles and later placed him in the trunk of the car. After the Combs kidnapping he took a Greyhound bus to St. Louis, Missouri to meet Crenshaw, who lived in nearby Berkeley. He hitchhiked from the Greyhound station to Crenshaw's house. His plan was to have the two work their way back to California through various robberies and thefts. Although both pistols belonged to him, he carried the Galesi and gave Crenshaw the Raven.
He and Crenshaw stole Rankin's car from a Kansas City restaurant for transportation to California. The theft was defendant's idea. Rankin had left the keys in the car and gone off with a woman in another car. En route to California they drove through Las Vegas to snatch a purse for money; defendant snatched the purse.
Crenshaw and he robbed the Exxon station together. Defendant was the first to pull his weapon and demand money. Afterward, Crenshaw and Benham got into the back seat of the car. Benham was never in the trunk. Defendant drove to the deserted shack to let Benham go. Crenshaw took her into the shack to tie her up and leave her. When Crenshaw returned a few minutes later, he made no mention of raping or killing Benham. Defendant and Crenshaw then drove to Barstow, where defendant stole another car and the two burned Rankin's car.
With defendant using Rankin's credit card in Vidal Junction to pay for gas, the two returned to Las Vegas before turning back towards Los Angeles. While Crenshaw drove, defendant fell asleep. He later awoke near Blythe to find Crenshaw gone and the car parked on a side road. Defendant did not know that White had been killed in the area.
Defendant denied Laughlin's testimony and claimed all of Laughlin's information resulted from his having gone through defendant's papers and police reports while the two were in jail together.
Prosecution Evidence. At the penalty phase the prosecution introduced evidence that on March 10, 1981, defendant and one Olden robbed a service station in Arroyo Grande, California. Michael Buss, the attendant, testified Olden wielded a shotgun while defendant ripped out the telephone and took the keys to Buss's fiancee's car.
On March 17, 1981, William Parr, a St. Louis, Missouri cab driver, was dispatched to a building near the Greyhound depot. His body was found in a park several hours later, a bullet through his brain. The bullet came from defendant's Galesi firearm. Parr's taxicab was found abandoned near Crenshaw's residence.
Thomas Smith, an inmate at Chino State prison, testified that on his arrival at the prison defendant advised him how to protect himself from other inmates and offered him a weapon. Defendant subsequently told Smith he was part of a group that would protect him if Smith would allow its members to sodomize him. Defendant told Smith he had "no choice." Thereafter defendant held Smith's head while another man sodomized him. Members of the group subsequently kicked and choked Smith; he did not know if defendant participated in the beating.
Inmate Laughlin testified to Rankin's death. Defendant told Laughlin he placed Rankin in the trunk of Rankin's vehicle, then later let him out and made him plead for his life before shooting him. Defendant partially covered Rankin's body with dirt and a vinyl tarp. Defendant told Laughlin that Rankin "was made to beg for his life and he filled his head with lead."
Defense Evidence. Defendant presented evidence Smith had given inconsistent statements concerning defendant's part in the sodomy attack on him. Defendant also presented evidence he was not involved in the attack.
Terry Caylor, an incarcerated felon, testified Laughlin said he would not have to stand trial in his own case because he was going to testify against defendant. Laughlin told Caylor he and Crenshaw had a "deal" and he could get all the information he needed from Crenshaw. Caylor saw Laughlin and Crenshaw talking together. The parties stipulated that the escape charge pending against Laughlin had been reviewed and dismissed by a prison review board for insufficient evidence and no further action was taken on the charge.
The testimony of George Gunn, a Missouri state court justice, at defendant's Riverside trial for the murder of White was presented. Defendant and a companion robbed Gunn...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Johnson
...P.2d 243 ( Watson ). ( People v. Harris (2013) 57 Cal.4th 804, 842, 161 Cal.Rptr.3d 364, 306 P.3d 1195 ; People v. Malone (1988) 47 Cal.3d 1, 22, 252 Cal.Rptr. 525, 762 P.2d 1249.) This requires us to examine whether it was "reasonably probable that a result more favorable to the appealing ......
-
People v. Cardenas
...checked on information provided by the defendant. "Defendant has the burden of proving ineffective assistance of counsel. (People v. Malone (1988) 47 Cal.3d 1, 33 . . . .) To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant ' "must establish not only deficient performanc......
-
People v. Henriquez
...trial were denied in People v. Taylor(1990) 52 Cal.3d 719, 737-738, 276 Cal.Rptr. 391, 801 P.2d 1142 and People v. Malone(1988) 47 Cal.3d 1, 27-28, 252 Cal.Rptr. 525, 762 P.2d 1249. More recently, this court upheld the denial of a similar request in People v. Hart(1999) 20 Cal.4th 546, 85 C......
-
Dixon v. Rackley
...Assessing such errors under the standard of People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836 (Watson), as is appropriate (People v. Malone (1988) 47 Cal.3d 1, 22), we find no cause for reversal: It is not reasonably probable a result more favorable to Dixon would have resulted absent the errors. ......