Ballard

By jury trial appellant Jimmy Leonard Ballard was convicted of first degree murder. (Pen. Code, § 187.) The jury also found true that a principal in the offense was armed with a firearm. (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (a).) Appellant was sentenced to state prison for 25 years to life plus 1 year pursuant to section 12022, subdivision (a).

The conviction was based on the felony murder rule, the killing having occurred during the commission of a robbery. Appellant planned and participated in the robbery, during which the victim was shot and killed by appellant’s accomplice, Freddie Catchings. The victim was Yvette Robinson, a woman with whom appellant had lived. Appellant was aware that Robinson sold cocaine and kept money and drugs in a safe in her apartment. Appellant and Freddie Catchings, after obtaining a gun from George Williams, planned for appellant to arrange a feigned drug transaction between Catchings and the victim. They planned to rob her at gunpoint of the cocaine she would bring with her, then rob her of her keys and take money and drugs from her apartment. Appellant contacted the victim and arranged the meeting. Once the parties arrived at the location and the…