People v. Steeg

• Decision Date: 13 December 1985
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Previously published at 193 Cal.App.3d 579 193 Cal.App.3d 579 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Norman Lee STEEG, Defendant and Appellant. D000330. Crim. 15695.

Page 904

220 Cal.Rptr. 904

Previously published at 193 Cal.App.3d 579

193 Cal.App.3d 579

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Norman Lee STEEG, Defendant and Appellant.

D000330.

Crim. 15695.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1, California.

Dec. 13, 1985.

Review Granted March 13, 1986.

Victoria Sleeth and Appellate Defenders, Inc., San Diego, for defendant and appellant.

Jeffrey J. Stuetz, San Diego, for amicus curiae on behalf of defendant and appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., Keith I. Motley, John W. Carney, Peter Quon, Jr. and Tim J. Nader, Deputy Attys. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

WIENER, Associate Justice.

Defendant Norman Lee Steeg appeals after a jury convicted him of first degree murder (Pen.Code, §§ 187, 189) ¹ and robbery ( § 211) with a felony-murder special circumstance finding ( § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i)). Allegations that Steeg was armed ( § 12022, subd. (a)) and used ( § 12022.5) a firearm were found to be true. The jury also found Steeg guilty of the theft of a firearm. ( § 487, subd. (3).) Following the penalty phase hearing, the jury fixed Steeg's punishment at life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On the night of September 29, 1981, defendant Steeg met Michael Williams and Kevin Finckel, with whom he was previously acquainted, on the boardwalk in Mission Beach. Earlier in the day, Steeg had stolen a loaded .38 calibre revolver and some Rolling Stones concert tickets from the residence of his girlfriend's mother. He was in Mission Beach attempting to sell the stolen property when he encountered Williams and Finckel.

After several hours of drinking and socializing, the trio encountered Gregory Lock, an off-duty sailor who was having trouble starting his car, a white 1978 Oldsmobile Starfire hatchback. They offered their help to Lock and when the car started, they asked Lock if he could give them a ride to North Park. Lock agreed, and after leaving Mission Beach, he drove south on Interstate 5. Williams sat in the front passenger seat next to Lock. Steeg and Finckel sat in the back seat, with Steeg seated directly behind Lock.

Shortly after they got on the freeway, Steeg pulled out the gun and placed it to Lock's neck. As Lock continued to drive south, Williams removed Lock's wallet from his pocket, but returned to Lock his military identification card. During the drive, Williams and Steeg repeatedly disagreed over where they were going and who was giving orders to Lock regarding their destination. Steeg indicated he wanted to stop the car and "let [Lock] out here" but Williams instructed Lock to "keep going."

When they arrived in National City, it was agreed Steeg would drive the car. Steeg ordered Lock off the freeway and they drove to an adjacent warehouse area. According to Finckel, Williams "seemed kind of edgy, he was getting on everybody's case, you know, and telling them to shut up, stuff like that." Steeg ordered Lock out of the car. Williams also got out and came around to the driver's side. Steeg then handed the gun to Williams so he could climb out of the back seat. Williams ordered Lock to lean up against a telephone pole, approximately five to ten feet from the car. As Steeg climbed into the driver's seat, Williams suddenly shot Lock twice with the revolver. As Lock started to run away, Williams shot him a third time, causing him to fall. Williams then fired two more shots.

Finckel testified that when Steeg handed the gun to Williams, Finckel suspected Williams would shoot Lock "from past experience." He also testified, however, that when Williams shot Lock, Steeg turned to Finckel and said "something like 'I didn't know he was going to do that.' " Steeg's testimony in his own defense was consistent with Finckel's trial testimony. According to Steeg, he had no idea Williams would shoot Lock. He claimed he had his back to Williams and Lock when he heard the first shots being fired and turned to Williams yelling, "No! Why in the hell did you do that?" Steeg testified that when Williams got back in the car, he told Steeg and Finckel that "if we said anything, that he would shoot and kill me and Kevin. That us three were not going nowhere until he got rid of the evidence."

Finckel's testimony at trial was impeached with prior inconsistent statements he made to National City police officers shortly after his arrest. He told the officers that when Williams shot Lock, Steeg exclaimed, "Oh, shit, I knew he was going After spending the night with a friend, where Williams burned Lock's wallet and its contents, the trio drove to Riverside in Lock's car, arriving late in the afternoon. Apparently while Steeg was asleep, Williams and Finckel burglarized the home of David Beardsley an acquaintance of Finckel's. The items taken included two cameras, a coin collection, drugs and a .38 caliber pistol. Finckel testified that all three had previously discussed the possibility of burglarizing Beardsley's residence to obtain items they could sell, and all had agreed it was a good idea. Steeg testified that he though Finckel was merely going to Beardsley's apartment to retrieve some things he had left there and had no idea he and Williams intended to steal anything until they returned to the car with the various stolen items.

                to do it."   In the National City interview, Finckel also stated that Steeg chided Williams for firing the gun five times, because "we could have used the rest of the shots."
                

From Riverside, the trio drove to Long Beach where they met a prior acquaintance of Williams', Shane Magee. Magee agreed to help them sell some of the items stolen from Beardsley's apartment and suggested they all drive to Las Vegas where Magee had various contacts. Magee testified that at some point before they left Long Beach, Williams told him that "they shot somebody, and that they had the car for three days so far and they wanted to get rid of it, and if I wanted to come with them it was up to me." Finckel testified he never remembered Williams telling Magee about anyone being shot, but he did remember Magee being told that the car was stolen. In Las Vegas, Magee helped the trio sell some of the stolen property. With the proceeds, Steeg rented a room for the group at the Villa Inn motel. Magee introduced the trio to a friend of his, Dana Cowen, who purchased some of the stolen property. On Friday evening, October 2, all five went drinking at the Golden Nugget Casino. While at the Golden Nugget, Cowen got in an argument with a drunk at the bar. Steeg then sent Finckel back to the motel room to get one of the guns. When Finckel returned and gave Steeg the gun, Magee told him, "This is Las Vegas, and we can't, you know,--we can't be carying [sic] guns around like that." Steeg replied, "Yeah, but we are crazy. How do you think we got the car? We killed a guy so they wouldn't find out." Magee also testified that throughout the entire time in Las Vegas, it was his opinion that Steeg was the dominant person among the three.

At one point, Finckel remained in the motel while Williams, Steeg, and Magee attempted to sell more of the stolen property. Magee and Williams got into a disagreement over the proceeds of a sale. Williams warned Magee that "if he would kill a guy for a car, that he would kill anybody for a couple of hundred dollars." Following the disagreement, Williams and Steeg returned to the motel, gathered up several items including the stolen guns, and left again. Williams told Finckel "he was going to go and pull a robbery."

Magee did not return with Williams and Steeg to the motel. Instead, now fearing for his own safety, he decided to call the police. Apparently in an attempt to prevent their departure until the police could arrive, Magee flattened a tire on the stolen car. He then called the police from a pay phone booth at the motel.

Magee's phone call to the police dispatcher was tape recorded and transcribed. He told the dispatcher:

"I ain't going to give up my name but I think there is in the Vista Motel in room 28, I heard last night through the wall that there was three guys living there and they're from San Diego and they're driving a stolen car and there was suppose to be something about a murder."

Magee went on to describe the car as white, "[i]ts like a Vega, you know, it slants in the back and that." He also said three guys were trying to "sell some guns." Magee explained that he could see two of the guys changing a tire on their car, describing one as having long brown hair, a bushy beard, and wearing a blue jean jacket, and the second as having blond Four patrol officers (in two cars) and a homicide detective were immediately dispatched to the Vista Motel, which they discovered had no room 28. They communicated this information to the dispatcher who, coincidentally, had just received another phone call from Magee. Magee called back to report that the two men had finished fixing the flat tire and had driven off. In his second phone call, Magee provided the additional information that the stolen white hatchback had Florida license plates. It was at that point the dispatcher received the call from the officers indicating there was no room 28 at the Vista Motel. Upon being questioned, Magee checked the sign outside the phone booth and discovered he was calling from the Villa Inn.

hair and wearing a blue t-shirt with sleeves cut off. He stated that both men were wearing blue jeans and red bandannas. Magee did not describe the third man, who he said remained in room 28.

On arrival at the Villa Inn, police entered room 28 and questioned Kevin Finckel. Finckel's statements corroborated much of what Magee had told the dispatcher. Shortly thereafter, officers outside the motel observed a small white hatchback with Florida license plates returning to the motel parking lot. The car was stopped and Steeg and Williams were ordered to get out. After they were patted down and handcuffed, a...