Botka v. Walter M.
Botka v. Walter M.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
Walter M. appeals from a judgment of wardship after the juvenile court found that he had committed murder (Pen. Code, § 187). The issue is presented whether a juvenile is entitled, as a matter of right, to an advisoiy jury. We hold that he is not.
Rodney Hampton, who was unarmed, was shot and killed by appellant in a confused fracas concerning the double-parking of an automobile in the Hunters Point area of San Francisco. The shooting was described at the jurisdictional hearing by three eyewitnesses. Appellant himself testified, admitting that he shot the victim. He claimed to have been acting in self-defense, but he admitted that the victim had been standing some distance away and that no weapon had been seen in the victim’s possession.
Appellant contends that the jurisdictional finding is not supported by substantial evidence. That contention is entirely without merit. Even without the eyewitness testimony, appellant’s own testimony admitted the intentional shooting of the victim and failed to make out a plausible theory of provocation or self-defense. The court’s jurisdictional finding is thus well supported by the evidence (cf. In re Roderick P. (1972) 7 Cal.3d 801, 809 [103 Cal.Rptr. 425, 500 P.2d 1]).
Affirmed.
Caldecott, P. J., and Rattigan, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.