People v. Smith

A person who aids and abets a crime is guilty of that crime, sometimes called the target crime. Additionally, that person is guilty of any other crime a principal in the target crime commits, sometimes called the nontarget crime, that is a natural and probable consequence of the target crime. In this case involving violent criminal street gangs, we must decide whether defendant was properly convicted of the murders of two of his fellow gang members even though he neither personally killed them nor desired their deaths. Because, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, a reasonable jury could find that a principal or principals in the target crimes committed the murders, and they were a reasonably foreseeable consequence when defendant aided and abetted the target crimes, we conclude that he was properly convicted of them. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which reached a similar conclusion.

I. Factual and Procedural History

This factual recitation is taken primarily from the Court of Appeal opinion authored by Justice Benke.

Three criminal street gangs played a role in this case: the Gateway Posse Crips (Gateway Posse), the YAH (short for…

Concurring. At trial, both the prosecution and the defense proceeded on the theory that Deshawn Littleton shot and killed the two victims in this case, Demetrius Hunt and Vincent McCarthy. The evidence showed that Littleton went to the “jumpout” with a gun. When fighting broke out among the gang members, Littleton pulled out his weapon and fired several shots. One witness testified that the shots came from where Littleton, and only Littleton, was standing. Further, the record shows that Hunt and McCarthy were killed with the same kind of bullet (maj. opn., ante, at p. 610), making it reasonable to infer that they were killed by the same gun. During her closing argument, the prosecutor acknowledged that several individuals fired weapons, but she said, “of course, the suggestion is” that Littleton killed Hunt and McCarthy. She went on to argue that the jury could convict defendant Vince Bryan Smith of first degree murder if Littleton acted with premeditation because Littleton was “the individual who actually fired” the fatal shots. Later, defense counsel urged the jury to view “the non-target offense through the eyes of Deshawn Littleton to decide whether or not he in fact committed…

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This factual recitation is taken primarily from the Court of Appeal opinion authored by Justice Benke. Three criminal street gangs played a role in this case: the Gateway Posse Crips (Gateway Posse), the YAH (short for Young Ass Hustlers) Squad, and the Pueblo Bishop Bloods (Pueblo Bishop). Pueblo Bishop members were known to carry guns and use them against rival gangs. The Gateway Posse and Pueblo Bishop were enemies, and there had been a history of violence between them. Defendant Vince Bryan Smith was a member of Gateway Posse. Each of the two murder victims, defendant’s friend, Vincent McCarthy, and his cousin, Demetrius Hunt, was either a member or an “associate” of the gang. Defendant’s friend, Julian McKee, was a member of yet another gang, but one that was affiliated with Gateway Posse. The YAH Squad began as an unaffiliated dance crew in 2002 and eventually transitioned into a criminal street gang whose members often carried guns. At the time of the killings, the YAH Squad had about 10 members. It had developed an affiliation with Pueblo Bishop because one of its members, Deshawn Littleton, was also affiliated with that gang. Members of…