Douglas

Appellant Thomas Edgar Douglas III and his brother, Bobby Dewitt Douglas, were charged and jointly tried by a jury for the murder of Lloyd Amey (Pen. Code, § 187). Appellant was also charged as an accessory to the same murder (§ 32). The jury returned verdicts finding both appellant and Bobby guilty of second degree murder and finding appellant guilty as an accessory. Appellant was sentenced to a term of 15 years to life on the murder count. His midterm sentence of two years on the accessory count was stayed by the sentencing court per section 654.

In the published portion of this opinion we will agree with appellant’s claim that the court committed prejudicial error when it denied his motion for separate trials and allowed use of a redacted version of appellant’s postarrest statement without permitting appellant to present portions of the statement which tended to exculpate him from responsibility for the murder. For that reason we will reverse the murder conviction. In the unpublished portion of the opinion we will reject appellant’s other contentions except one. Respondent concedes, and we agree, that appellant cannot ultimately stand convicted of both murder and of…