7 results for 'cat:"Murder" AND cat:"Accomplice Liability"'.
J. Johnson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. Multiple witnesses testify to multiple events, including having been robbed by a man in a gorilla mask associated with defendant, having heard defendant's voice screaming in a conflict with another, followed by gunshots, and having had a gun stolen by defendant's accomplice. Though an accomplice was involved, sufficient evidence supports the conviction. Defendant aided the accomplice in an aggravated robbery and is criminally responsible as a party to murder, as the accomplice intentionally caused the victim's death. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 09-23-00234-CR, Categories: Evidence, murder, accomplice Liability
Per curiam, the Minnesota Supreme Court reverses the defendant's first-degree premeditated murder, attempted first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree intentional murder and kidnapping convictions, each premised on aiding-and-abetting theories of liability. While a search warrant application for a search of the defendant's cell phone was sufficiently supported by probable cause, the district court erred in instructing the jury that the defendant "or another (or others)" satisfied each element of each offense. These "hybrid instructions" misstated the law in a way that was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: A22-1281, Categories: murder, accomplice Liability, Jury Instructions
J. Dato finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s petition for resentencing from his murder conviction arising from his participation as accomplice in a gang-related shooting. The petition has been addressed in an earlier opinion by this court and there is no change in the ruling. The opinion is modified with a footnote referring to a cited case in which the law at the time “did not require the jury to find that [he] personally acted with malice,” and certain other syntactical and grammatical changes to clarify descriptions of accomplice liability.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Dato, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: D080779, Categories: murder, accomplice Liability
J. Arterburn finds the county court properly denied defendant’s request to transfer this aiding and abetting murder case to the juvenile court. Defendant admitted to planning the murder of his girlfriend’s father, who disagreed with their relationship, with his girlfriend. He admitted to driving her to the apartment where she stabbed her father to death. Surveillance video supports this, as well as defendant’s disposal of the murder weapon at a nearby grocery store. Though defendant does not have a criminal record, he does have a history of nonconforming, assaultive and reckless actions at school and home, including harming students, threatening teachers, destroying property and self-harm. His current charge shows a dramatic escalation and overwhelming evidence reveals that he poses a risk to the public if he is released without sufficient supervision and treatment. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: A-23-211, Categories: Evidence, murder, accomplice Liability
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J. Clement finds the trial court improperly convicted defendant for aiding and abetting a pair of armed robberies as the getaway driver. Two victims and two perpetrators were shot, and defendant drove a perpetrator to the hospital and was arrested when the vehicle was found to be stolen. Coercive interrogation techniques yielded involuntary statements and the court improperly overruled counsel’s objection to their being admitted. Defendant’s association with the shooters’ vehicle at the hospital is probative of guilt, but not sufficient to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a jury would have found him guilty absent the error. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Michigan Supreme Court, Judge: Clement, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 162497, Categories: murder, Robbery, accomplice Liability
J. Collins finds that the trial court, which refused to resentence defendant, was not required to vacate his second-degree murder conviction based on the jury's rejection of a special circumstance that the murder happened during a robbery. A valid theory of murder applies. He directly aided and abetted murder with malice aforethought by disconnecting a phone line at the murder scene and then telling the shooter to "kill him, kill him." Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Collins, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: B317896, Categories: murder, Sentencing, accomplice Liability