People v. Woodard CA1/5

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. The Crimes2 In 1985, Woodard was an inmate at San Quentin Prison. He and two other inmates, Jarvis Masters and Andre Johnson, were members of a prison gang known as the Black Guerilla Family (BGF). BGF planned to kill two prison guards, have inmates from the Crips gang kill two guards, and then attack other inmates associated with rival gangs. Woodard and Masters met with other BGF gang members during exercise periods to plan the attacks, and it was decided that Sergeant Dean Burchfield would be the first victim. Johnson was chosen to do the killing because it was dark outside his cell. The plan was for Burchfield to be attracted to the area of Johnson’s cell and for Johnson to stab him. Another BGF member made a shaft to attach to a knife and form a spear, which would allow Johnson to reach out of his cell and kill Burchfield as he walked past. In June 1985, as Sergeant Burchfield made his rounds to check on the inmates, he was “hit” outside Johnson’s cell; a relatively small, sharp-edged stab wound to the upper chest severed his pulmonary artery, causing him to collapse and bleed to death. Johnson, Masters, and Woodard were charged with his…