People v. Johnson CA3

BACKGROUND

I Factual Background A little before 3:00 a.m. on April 26, 2016, Nguyen texted a friend, Amanda Tucker, about a potential “lick”—a term that Tucker described as slang for a robbery. He texted, “Tonight I’m hitting this one lick for $30,000.” Tucker responded, “You want [Johnson]”—her then-boyfriend—“to come?” Nguyen said he did, adding that he had a gun for Johnson and Johnson would be entitled to a third of the money.

2 Johnson met Nguyen a week before through Tucker and owed Nguyen $425 for marijuana he had given them at the time. After Tucker shared the gist of Nguyen’s plan (though omitting the part about the gun), Johnson initially expressed a lack of interest. But after speaking with Nguyen over the phone, Johnson agreed to join. According to Johnson, Nguyen said he could “get 10,000” out of a “$30,000 robbery” and have his “debt . . . repaid.” Under the plan, Tucker, Johnson, and Tayler C.—a minor who Tucker was mentoring in prostitution—would pick up Nguyen in Tucker’s car and they would then “hit the lick.” Tucker, Johnson, and Tayler C. afterward picked up Nguyen as planned. Both Johnson and Tayler C. thought Nguyen appeared to be high on some drug—perhaps…