People v. Johnson CA5
Opinion
Opinion
BACKGROUND
Events of 1986 Pilar was discovered murdered in June 1986. An investigation led to the arrest of three men—defendant, Vincent Crama, and Thomas Hutchinson (a minor at the time). The District Attorney of Fresno County filed an information on June 19, 1986, charging defendant with murder (§ 187; count one), rape (former § 261, subd. (2); count two), a lewd and lascivious act against a child (§ 288, subd. (b); count three); and rape in concert (former §§ 261, subd. (2), 264.1; count four). The information also alleged defendant murdered Pilar while engaged in the commission and attempted commission of a rape and personally used a deadly weapon as to count one. In August 1986, defendant pleaded guilty to murder and admitted personally using a deadly weapon in exchange for dismissing the other special circumstance and the three other counts. The prosecutor informed the trial court that the factual basis for the offense was as follows:
“On June 14, 1986, [defendant], Vincent Seth Crama, and a juvenile by the name of Thomas Hutchinson were together and made contact with [Pilar], who was thirteen at the time. And the four of them agreed to go