People v. Webster

Citation54 Cal.3d 411,814 P.2d 1273,285 Cal.Rptr. 31
Decision Date30 August 1991
Docket NumberS007757,Nos. S004528,Cr. 23128,s. S004528
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
Parties, 814 P.2d 1273 The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Larry Junior WEBSTER, Defendant and Appellant. In re Larry Junior WEBSTER on Habeas Corpus.

Joseph D. Allen, under appointment by the Supreme Court, David K. Allen and Allen & Allen, Santa Barbara, for defendant and appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp and Daniel E. Lungren, Attys. Gen., Steve White and Richard B. Iglehart, Chief Asst. Attys. Gen., Arnold O. Overoye, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jane N. Kirkland, Ward A. Campbell and Edmund D. McMurray, Deputy Attys. Gen., Sacramento, for plaintiff and respondent.

BAXTER, Justice.

Defendant Larry Junior Webster and three other men were jointly tried on charges arising from the death of William Burke. A jury convicted defendant of first degree murder with personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon (Pen.Code, §§ 187, 189, 12022, subd. (b)), 1 robbery (§ 211), conspiracy to commit first degree murder and robbery (§ 182, former subd. 1 [now subd. (a)(1) ] ), and grand theft of an automobile (former § 487, subd. 3 [see now § 487h] ). Under the 1978 death penalty law, the jury found as special circumstances of the murder that defendant intentionally committed it while lying in wait (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15)) and while engaged in the commission or attempted commission of a robbery (id., subd. (a)(17)(i)). After a penalty trial, the jury fixed defendant's punishment at death. His motion for modification of the death verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)) was denied. Defendant's appeal is automatic.

We find no prejudicial error affecting either the guilt or penalty judgments. We will therefore affirm them in full.

Defendant has filed a separate petition for habeas corpus alleging (1) that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in various respects and (2) that newly discovered evidence warrants guilt and penalty retrials. We conclude that the petition fails to state a prima facie case for relief. We will therefore deny the petition.

GUILT TRIAL
1. Prosecution evidence.

The principal prosecution witnesses were Bruce Smith and Michelle Cram. As the jury knew, Smith had already pled guilty to second degree murder in connection with the homicide, and Cram had been granted immunity in return for her testimony.

Smith and Cram provided the following account, differing only in minor details: In late August 1981, defendant, Joseph Madrigal, Carl Williams, Robert Coville, Smith, and the 17-year-old Cram were living at a riverbank encampment in Sacramento. Defendant was the group leader. On the night of August 29, Smith, Madrigal, and Coville robbed a nearby convenience store. Quick response by the police forced the trio to hide for several hours before returning to camp.

The next day, August 30, defendant and Williams made one of several trips to buy beer, which the camp residents were consuming at a steady pace. When the men returned in early afternoon, defendant said they had met two "outlaws" ("street persons" or "survivors") at the Shell station near the convenience store. Defendant reported there was still intense police activity in the area because of the robbery, and he suggested the group needed to leave town. Defendant said he had arranged to use the "outlaws' " car for joint drug purchases or robberies that evening. The opportunity arose, he suggested, to lure one of the "outlaws" back to the camp, kill him, and steal the car.

Madrigal, Coville, and Williams expressed enthusiasm for the plan. According to Cram, defendant said he personally would kill and dismember the victim; according to Smith, Coville said he "hadn't killed somebody in quite a while" and would "take care of it." When Cram expressed skepticism about defendant's boasts, he insisted he was serious. Defendant said this would be Cram's first criminal lesson and would help her become more independent from Williams, with whom she was living.

It was decided that because the "outlaws" knew Williams, he would walk back to the Shell station with defendant to meet them. Madrigal would go along. Once the three returned to camp with the intended victim, either defendant (according to Cram) or Coville (according to Smith) would kill him. Defendant showed Smith where to dig a grave and told Cram to clean up the campsite and pack in preparation for the group's departure. Defendant, Williams, and Madrigal then left for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the "outlaws." Defendant had drunk beer all day and may have taken amphetamines. As usual, defendant was wearing glasses; Williams wore a cowboy hat.

While the three men were gone, Smith and Cram worked at their assignments; Coville sat and drank beer. After half an hour's absence, defendant called out from the top of a levee that his group had returned. Four men walked single file down the trail to the camp. Williams was in the lead, followed in order by Madrigal, the victim Burke, and defendant. When the four were about halfway down the trail, defendant suddenly grabbed Burke and pulled a knife. According to Smith, defendant moved around to the front of Burke and stabbed him; Cram saw defendant reach from behind to stab Burke in the chest. Burke protested, and a struggle ensued. Madrigal turned back to assist defendant. Burke began to make gurgling sounds.

Cram became hysterical, so defendant and Williams told Smith to take her to "Fag Beach" and wait. 2 Ten minutes later, defendant, Madrigal, Williams, and Coville arrived at the "Fag Beach" parking lot with the group's belongings. Defendant gave Coville a car key, which Coville used to unlock the trunk of a car parked in the lot. The group loaded their possessions in the car, proceeded to Interstate 5, and drove all night toward Southern California. Defendant indicated that they should eventually turn east, toward Missouri.

As they rode, Madrigal explained to Smith that "the man had died hard." Madrigal said Burke had managed to grab defendant's knife and inflict a thigh wound on defendant before Madrigal joined in to help defendant "finish the job and get his knife back." Madrigal indicated that he himself had been slashed across the stomach by Burke during the struggle. Smith said that, at one point, he saw defendant's and Madrigal's knives in the car.

About 3:30 p.m. the next day, as defendant was driving, an officer of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) stopped the group's car for speeding on Interstate 15 near Barstow. Investigation stemming from the traffic stop eventually led to the arrest of all six passengers, and to statements by Smith and Cram concerning the Burke homicide. (See discussion, post.) On September 8, Detective Burchett of the Sacramento Police Department took an in-custody statement from Cram which essentially conformed to her trial testimony.

Guided by Smith's directions, the police found Burke's body in its shallow riverbank grave on the morning of September 3. Burke's throat had been cut, and there were 24 other stab wounds, 8 in the rear of the body. The wounds could have been inflicted by more than one knife and more than one person. Burke's pants pocket was turned out, but his wallet had not been taken.

The car in which the group was arrested was registered to Ronnie Glover. Glover testified that on the evening of August 30, he loaned the car to his cousin Burke, with whom he was travelling. Burke then left the Shell station in the company of three men meeting the descriptions of defendant (glasses), Madrigal, and Williams (cowboy hat). Glover never saw Burke or the car again.

When examined at the time of booking, Madrigal and defendant both had fresh injuries. Defendant's wound was on the knee. A bloodstained knife was found in the car taken from Glover and Burke.

2. Defense evidence.

Defendant testified in his own behalf. He denied any plan to kill the victim and steal his car. The camp residents had engaged in a drunken discussion about killing people, but defendant insisted he merely taunted the others to show they were not as "tough" as they maintained. Defendant did tell the "sniveling" Cram that "[t]his will be your first day of school," but the remark was intended only to "shut her up." He did not order anyone to dig a grave or break camp before he went to meet Glover and Burke.

Later, according to defendant, Burke handed him the car keys when they arrived at the "Fag Beach" parking lot. Defendant was "fairly loaded" but not staggering drunk. As the four men walked from the car toward the camp, he and Burke were arguing over how to split the proceeds of drug sales and robberies planned for later in the evening. Burke wanted a larger share because he had furnished the car. Burke suddenly pulled a knife and slashed defendant on the leg. Defendant managed to get control of Burke's weapon and defended himself. Burke kept "charging" at defendant and Madrigal, forcing them to continue stabbing him. Burke could have left had he wished to do so.

Only after Burke's death, defendant said, did the group decide to take the car and flee. Attempts to dig a makeshift grave were unsuccessful, so they dragged Burke's body under a bush. They also threw knives belonging to defendant, Madrigal, Burke, and Smith into the river. Defendant denied going through Burke's pockets. He could not name the owner of the knife found in the car but said it was not Madrigal's.

William Gaida, a Sacramento detective, testified about a statement taken from Cram on September 2, which differed in minor respects from Cram's trial testimony. Larry Moser testified that several years earlier, he was seriously injured in a barroom fight initiated by Burke.

Coville testified in his own defense. He denied participating in or overhearing a plan to kill Burke. Coville said he was drunk when defendant, Madrigal, and Williams returned to camp with Burke. Coville insisted he did not see the killing of...

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