People v. Williams

Defendants Samuel Alfonso Williams, Jr., Dee Joe Mosley, and James Wiley were convicted after their first jury trial of robbery (Pen. Code, §211) and burglary (§ 459). The jury found true the allegations that defendants Williams and Wiley were armed with a firearm in violation of section 12022, subdivision (a), and that defendant Mosley used a firearm in violation of section 12022.5 in committing the robbery and burglary. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charge of murder (§ 187) against any of the defendants; a mistrial was declared.

Following the second jury trial on the murder charge, the jury returned verdicts finding each defendant guilty of first degree murder and finding that defendant Mosley personally used a firearm in committing the murder.

All three defendants appealed from the ensuing judgments. On appeal, defendants contend the court committed Wheeler error in the first trial. In addition, each defendant urges that his felony-murder conviction must be reversed because he was twice put in jeopardy for the underlying robbery and the trial court committed other prejudicial error, including its failure to sever defendants’ trials as requested. We…