People v. Murphy
| Decision Date | 15 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | B297552 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. WILLIAM CECIL MURPHY, Defendant and Appellant. |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County No YA011616, Edmund Willcox Clarke, Jr., Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.
Barbara A. Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Idan Ivri and Charles S. Lee, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
In 1993, William Cecil Murphy was convicted of first degree murder based on his codefendant's fatal stabbing of the victim during the commission of a robbery. In 2019, Murphy filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to newly-enacted Penal Code section 1170.95.[1] Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the petition based on a finding that Murphy was a major participant in the robbery however, the court never stated whether it also found that Murphy acted with reckless indifference to human life. We conclude the trial court erred in denying the petition because, even assuming the requisite findings were made, the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that Murphy acted with reckless indifference to human life. We accordingly reverse and remand for resentencing.
On February 28, 1992, Carlos Bacab left his apartment on Buford Street at 5:15 a.m., to check his work schedule. He always carried his wallet in his pants and a box cutter he used at work.
Bacab's body was found by Sheriff Deputy Diaz at 104th and Buford at 5:55 a.m. Bacab was lying in the street in his boxer shorts and a shirt. He had two stab wounds in the back. There were two puddles of blood. His closed box cutter lay in one of the puddles. Bacab's pants had been torn in two. A piece of the pants and his black jacket were on a driveway across the street.
Bacab died from two fatal stab wounds to his back which ruptured his aorta. He had abrasions on his jaw, forehead, elbow, arms and legs.
A trail of blood led across the street and to a pick-up truck parked in a carport. Bacab's wallet and papers lay behind the truck.
Howard Anthony Terry and Murphy were charged with murder during the commission of a robbery. They were tried together before separate juries. Terry has a rare blood type found in one person in four and a half million persons. Blood of the same type was found on the sidewalk at the crime scene, on the leg of Bacab's pants and on the lining of the right rear pocket. Terry's palm print and blood of Terry's type were found on the pickup truck in the carport.
A six or eight inch knife covered with blood was found in a yard, known in the neighborhood as “the jungle.” Blood on the blade was consistent with Bacab's blood type and blood on the handle was consistent with Terry's blood type. Of the 19 bloodstains the police collected, none were of Murphy's blood type.
Between 5 and 5:10 a.m. on February 28, 1992, Murphy's sister, Cathy, let her brother Murphy into their grandmother's home near Buford and 104th Street. He went to bed. Between 6 and 6:15 a.m. Terry came into the house. Terry and Murphy are cousins. His finger was bleeding. Terry told Cathy that he had stabbed someone. “He jacked someone and stabbed him.” To Cathy “jack” meant to beat someone up, although an experienced police officer testified it means to rob someone. Cathy overheard Terry tell his sister on the telephone that he had stabbed someone and to look out on the street. His sister lived on Buford at 104th Street. Terry later told Cathy he did it “by the jungle.” Terry seemed to be high on drugs. Allison Merideth, a friend of Murphy, asked Terry the next day what he had done the night before and he told her he stabbed an old man.
The following evidence was introduced in Murphy's case only. The police interviewed Murphy three times. In the first interview, Murphy said he was riding in a car with a friend when he saw two men beating and kicking a man on the south side of 104th Street. They ran off with the man's pants. Upon further questioning, Murphy modified his story. He said he was walking south on Buford with two companions when they observed the victim exit the driveway of his apartment building and begin to walk southbound on Buford. They followed the victim. The two companions began discussing the possibility of robbing this individual. Murphy told his companions he was not in favor of that. They followed the victim westbound on 104th Street, when suddenly his two companions bolted forward and ran up to the victim and began striking him about the head and upper body. The victim ran to the south side of the street, and his companions followed him and continued to attack him. Murphy said he continued traveling westbound on the north side of 104th Street. He saw one of his companions with a knife and he had no prior knowledge of a knife being there. Murphy described the knife as a kitchen type of food preparation butcher knife. He did not actually see the stabbing. One of the individuals had the victim's pants and they ran eastbound on 104th Street to Buford. Murphy continued eastbound on 104th to Inglewood Avenue and to his home.
When told his story was not consistent with the information the police had, Murphy said that in fact he had crossed to the south side of the street to where the attack was occurring. He tried to dissuade his companions from the attack. Murphy indicated his cousin Terry had the knife. Murphy again stated that he did not see the stabbing. Murphy said his cousin cut his thumb during the attack and threw the knife into the jungle yard.
Murphy admitted that he had the victim's pants and that he threw them in the driveway. They ran to the carport area where they climbed up over the top to another street. They had the victim's wallet and checked its contents. Murphy thought his fingerprints might be on the wallet.
At the next interview about two weeks later, Murphy gave a statement practically the same as the final version of the previous statement. When the police indicated that he was not being completely truthful, Murphy identified one of the individuals as Pagus, instead of the name he had used before, Bacus. He said they had been drinking beer and discussing the possibility of “jacking a basehead” on Buford Street, meaning a rock cocaine dealer or user. When they saw the victim, Murphy told his companions that he obviously was not a basehead. His companions attacked the victim and he was with them but he was not involved in the actual attack. Murphy said he went along because he had to “take care of my cousin.”
Terry testified in his defense. He went to a party the evening of February 27 where he drank a couple of 12 packs of beer and smoked PCP. He left after 4:30 a.m. with an individual he met at the party and his cousin Murphy. As they walked along they saw the victim on the other side of the street. The victim said something to Terry. He did not understand him because it was in Spanish. Terry went across to the victim and asked him what he needed. Murphy stayed behind. The victim's voice got louder, and he hit Terry. Terry fell down and his companion helped him up and argued with the victim. The victim reached into his pocket and pulled out an object that looked like a knife. Terry panicked and tried to hit the object out of the victim's hand. They struggled and Terry pulled out his knife which he carried for protection in this gang area. Terry hit the victim twice with his knife while facing him. He ran with his companions to the back of the apartments and discovered his thumb was cut badly. He wrapped it in his T-shirt. He threw the knife into the jungle.
Both Murphy and Terry originally were charged with one count of murder (§ 189, subd. (a)) with a felony-murder special circumstance allegation (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)). Prior to trial, the court granted the People's motion to dismiss the special circumstance allegation as to Murphy.
In 1993, following the joint trial before separate juries, Murphy and Terry were each found guilty of first degree murder. The jury in Terry's trial also found the felony-murder special circumstance allegation against him to be true. Terry was sentenced to a term of life without the possibility of parole. Murphy was sentenced to a term of 25 years to life for the murder, plus five years for a prior serious felony conviction.
Murphy and Terry each filed an appeal from their judgment of conviction. In 1995, this court affirmed both judgments in an nonpublished opinion.
On January 2, 2019, represented by counsel, Murphy filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to section 1170.95. Murphy asserted he was entitled to relief under the newly-enacted statute because he was convicted of first degree felony murder, he was not the actual killer, he did not act with an intent to kill, and he was not a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life. On March 4, 2019, the People filed two oppositions to the petition. In one opposition, the People argued section 1170.95 was unconstitutional. In the other, the People contended Murphy was ineligible for resentencing because he was a major participant in the robbery and acted with reckless indifference to human life. On March 14, 2019, Murphy filed replies to the People's oppositions.
On March 15, 2019, the trial...
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