People v. Williams CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

Norman Williams, who with codefendant Omar Walker was convicted in 1997 of (among other crimes) murder, appeals from the superior court’s order following an evidentiary hearing denying his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6.1 Williams argues substantial evidence did not support the court’s finding he could still be convicted of murder as a major participant in an underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. A Jury Convicts Williams of First Degree Murder, and We Affirm One evening in November 1995, Williams and Walker entered a restaurant owned by Joseph Beharry. Beharry was upstairs in a loft area watching a basketball game and smoking marijuana with Anthony Samuels and Robert Cross. Timothy Hinds, who worked and lived in the restaurant, was dressing in the loft. The restaurant had recently closed, and Anthony Brock was downstairs cleaning up. The staircase leading to the loft from the restaurant was L-shaped, with a landing in the middle. Williams and Walker entered the restaurant, walked up to the loft, and pointed their guns at the men there.2 Walker went

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