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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
, 900 [156 P.2d 7]; accord, People v. Perez, (supra) , 2 Cal. 4th at p. 1127.)
Here, a rational trier of fact could conclude from the evidence that before shooting Sergeant Wolfley defendant had made a cold and calculated decision to take Sergeant Wolfley's life after weighing considerations for and against. The evidence included Deputy Stein's testimony that after the killing defendant said that "he had to do it" and that when Sergeant Wolfley came after him "all I could think about was getting his gun and shooting him so he couldn't arrest me." The jury could infer that defendant's action in leading Sergeant Wolfley behind the service station was carefully calculated to permit defendant to carry out his plan out of the view of witnesses. William Judevine testified that he heard the sounds of a struggle, but that these noises ended with the sound of a gunshot, followed five seconds later by a second gunshot. From this testimony, and from defendant's tape-recorded admissions that he took the gun away from the officer, a rational trier of fact could find that although the first shot may have been fired accidentally during a struggle for the weapon, the second shot was fired after defendant had obtained undisputed possession of the gun and that this was the fatal shot. The shot was fired at Sergeant Wolfley's face, which is consistent with a preexisting intent to kill.
In arguing that the evidence was insufficient, defendant relies upon People v. Anderson (1968) 70 Cal. 2d 15 [73 Cal. Rptr. 550, 447 P.2d 942], in which this court identified three types of evidence that are indicative of premeditation and deliberation: "(1) facts about how and what defendant did prior to the actual killing which show that the defendant was engaged in activity directed toward, and explicable as intended to result in, the killing--what may be characterized as 'planning' activity; (2) facts about the defendant's prior relationship and/or conduct with the victim from which the jury could reasonably infer a 'motive' to kill the victim, which inference of motive, together with facts of type (1) or (3), would in turn support an inference that the killing was the result of 'a pre-existing reflection' and 'careful thought and weighing of considerations' rather than 'mere unconsidered or rash impulse hastily executed' [citation]; (3) facts about the nature of the killing from which the jury could infer that the manner of killing was so particular and exacting that the defendant must have intentionally killed according to a 'preconceived design' to take his victim's life in a particular way for a 'reason' which the jury can reasonably infer from facts of type (1) or (2)." ( Id. at pp. 26-27, original italics.)
The Anderson factors provide a "synthesis of prior case law," but they "are not a definitive statement of the prerequisites for proving premeditation and deliberation in every case." ( People v. Hawkins (1995) 10 Cal. 4th 920, 957 [42 Cal. Rptr. 2d 636, 897 P.2d 574]; see also People v. Perez, (supra) , 2 Cal. 4th 1117, 1125.) In particular, they are not well adapted to a case like this one in which the defendant's postoffense statements provide substantial insight into the defendant's thought processes in the crucial moments before the act of killing. Even so, we find evidence corresponding to each of the Anderson categories. Defendant's movement to the back of the service station (where no witnesses would be likely to observe) is planning activity, his statement that he was determined to prevent Sergeant Wolfley from arresting him provides a motive, and the firing of the gun at Sergeant Wolfley's face is a manner of killing that was entirely consistent with a preconceived design to take his victim's life.
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