People v. Johnson CA1/4

BACKGROUND

This court affirmed appellant’s conviction in People v. Johnson (1992) 5 Cal.App.4th 552 (Johnson). Our opinion describes Elaine Williams’s death in an automobile accident with appellant. (Id. at p. 555.) After robbing two men, appellant fled in a stolen car that struck Williams’s car, killing her. (Ibid.) Appellant testified that the collision occurred 22 miles from and 30 minutes after the robbery. Seeing no police, he thought he was safe. (Id. at p. 556–557.) He pleaded guilty to assault with a firearm, vehicle theft, being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon, and two counts of robbery. The jury convicted him of first degree murder with special circumstances. (Id. at p. 557.) On appeal, appellant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to support his felony-murder conviction. (Johnson, supra, 5 Cal.App.4th at p. 557.) He argued that when Williams died, the felonies were completed because he had reached a place of temporary safety and he thought he was safe. (Id. at p. 559.) Rejecting this contention, we explained the “issue to be resolved is whether a robber had actually reached a place of temporary safety, not whether the defendant thought that he or she…