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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence is sufficient to support the jury's implied finding of premeditation and deliberation.
L. Sufficiency of the Evidence of Attempted Murder
Defendant was convicted of attempting to murder both Officer Cirilo and William Haverstick. He contends both convictions must be reversed for insufficiency of the evidence to prove specific intent to kill.
Our review of the record persuades us there is substantial evidence from which a rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant possessed the required intent to kill Officer Cirilo. The evidence includes defendant's statements to Deputy Stein that when Sergeant Wolfley sought to detain defendant, defendant decided that he "had to" shoot Wolfley because "he didn't want to go back to jail." Also relevant is evidence that, to avoid arrest, defendant shot Sergeant Wolfley in the face at close range, and that, moments later, as defendant was fleeing from the scene, defendant fired the gun twice at Officer Cirilo's pursuing patrol car, the first shot shattering the windshield and wounding Cirilo on the hand. The jury could infer that defendant's purpose in firing at Officer Cirilo was to eliminate pursuit and thereby to avoid arrest, and that, having already deliberately killed Sergeant Wolfley for the same purpose, he intended to achieve this purpose by killing Officer Cirilo as well. (See People v. Lee (1987) 43 Cal. 3d 666, 679 [238 Cal. Rptr. 406, 738 P.2d 752] [evidence of intent to kill compelling where a fleeing suspect stopped, turned, aimed, and fired " 'at people he knew to be armed policemen' " from distance of 15 to 20 feet].)
We are persuaded that the record also contains substantial evidence of defendant's intent to kill William Haverstick. Defendant shot Haverstick just a short time after killing Sergeant Wolfley and attempting to kill Officer Cirilo. The jury could reasonably infer that he was still animated by the purpose of escaping at all costs. When Haverstick suddenly confronted him, defendant did not know whether Haverstick was an officer or a civilian, armed or unarmed. Believing that Haverstick might present a threat to his plans, defendant fired at close range, striking Haverstick in the upper thigh. Had Haverstick not been unusually tall (six feet four inches), the bullet would have struck him in the abdomen and could well have proved fatal. Under these circumstances, intent to kill may be inferred.
M. Kidnapping for Extortion
Defendant contends that his conviction for kidnapping for extortion must be reversed for instructional error and for insufficiency of the evidence. We hold otherwise. Although we conclude that the instruction failed to adequately describe one element of the offense, we also conclude that this error was harmless and that sufficient evidence supports the verdict.
The trial court gave the jury this instruction:
"Defendant is charged in Count 4 of the information, with the commission of the crime of Kidnapping for Extortion, a violation of Penal Code section 209.
"Extortion is the obtaining of an official act of a public officer, induced by a wrongful use of force or fear.
"In order to prove the commission of such crime, each of the following elements must be proved:
"1. The obtaining of an official act of a public officer,
"2. Such action was induced by a wrongful use of force or fear.
"The wrongful use of force and fear to obtain an official act of law enforcement officers may include directing them to refrain from resisting and stopping the criminal acts, kidnapping, escape and assault th
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