Campbell
People v. Campbell
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Tangeman, J.
*668 Angry about a failed drug deal, Nathan Louis Campbell drove his car onto the Venice Beach Boardwalk and plowed into 10 separate groups of people in close succession. A jury convicted him of one count of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) ) 1 ; 17 counts of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)); 3 felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident; and 7 misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of an accident (Veh. Code, § 20001, subd. (a) ). The jury found true allegations that he used a deadly weapon in the murder and inflicted great bodily injury in three of the assaults. (§§ 12022, subd. (b)(1), 12022.7, subd. (a).) The trial court sentenced Campbell to 15 years to life plus 27 years in state prison. It stayed the sentence for all but one of the counts of leaving the scene of an accident pursuant to section 654.
*669 We conclude (1) the prosecutor's reference to Campbell's post- Miranda 2 silence was a fair response to Campbell's trial testimony that he cooperated fully with police, and (2) Campbell was properly convicted of 10 counts of fleeing the scene of an accident because there were 10 distinct accidents after which he could have stopped…