People v. Warner
People v. Warner
Opinion of the Court
*811*27This case involves a jury finding of attempted homicide pursuant to a "kill zone" theory. It arises from a shooting in a crowded bar. On a Saturday night of a long July 4th holiday weekend, defendant Shane Michael Warner took a semiautomatic hand gun, concealed in his waistband into a bar. He shot across the bar's semi-dark dance floor, illuminated by a strobe light, at I. Smith, who had attacked him a few weeks earlier. Defendant emptied the gun's clip of 10 bullets and wounded, but did not kill his primary target, Smith, and wounded, but did not kill an innocent bystander, N.C. Defendant claimed to have acted in self-defense, but there was no evidence that Smith was armed.
The prosecution charged defendant with two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the attempted murder of Smith, and the prosecution eventually dismissed that count. The jury acquitted defendant of the attempted murder of N.C., but found him guilty of the lesser included offense *28of attempted voluntary manslaughter. The jury convicted defendant of assaulting N.C. with a semiautomatic firearm. The trial court sentenced defendant to 22 years in prison, calculated as follows: nine years (upper term) for the assault, plus 10 years for personal use of a firearm pursuant to Penal Code section 12022.5, subdivision (a), plus three consecutive years for the personal infliction of great bodily injury. The trial court stayed the attempted voluntary manslaughter sentence of five years six months pursuant to Penal Code section 654.
In the published portion of this opinion defendant argues there is insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction for attempted voluntary manslaughter because he did not intend to kill N.C. He argues it was error to allow the prosecution to infer intent from a "kill zone" theory, and to so instruct the jury. The instruction said: "a person may intend to kill a specific victim or victims and, at the same time, intend to kill everyone in a particular zone of harm or ... 'kill zone.' " The intent is concurrent. It occurs "when the nature and scope of the attack, while directed at a primary victim, are such that we can conclude the perpetrator intended to ensure harm to the primary victim by harming everyone in that victim's vicinity." ( People v. Bland (2002)
We conclude that the trial court did not err in allowing the prosecutor to argue defendant intended to kill N.C. under a "kill zone" theory, and in so instructing the jury. " 'Where the means employed to commit the crime against a primary victim create a zone of harm around that victim, the factfinder can reasonably infer that the defendant intended that harm to all who are in the anticipated zone.' " ( Bland, supra , 28 Cal.4th at pp. 329-330,
*812We issued a published opinion on May 7, 2019, affirming the judgment. On May 22, 2019, defendant filed a petition for rehearing asking us to address his supplemental brief seeking a remand to the trial court for retroactive application of Senate Bill No. 620 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (hereafter Senate Bill 620), which would allow the trial court to exercise its discretion to dismiss the firearm enhancement. We will remand the matter to the trial court for the sole purpose of determining whether to exercise its discretion to dismiss the section 12022.5, subdivision (a) firearm enhancement.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The shooting occurred at LaSalle's Bar in Chico, California. About three weeks prior to the shooting, defendant and Smith got into an argument after defendant confronted Smith about wearing a blue Los Angeles Dodgers cap. Defendant and Smith were told to leave the bar. After defendant and Smith left the bar, Smith punched defendant several times in the face. Defendant testified that before he lost consciousness, he heard Smith say, "If you come around my turf again, I'm going to kill you." Defendant sustained a concussion, a contusion on his right and left eye, a chipped tooth, scratches all over his face, a busted lip, and a sore rib. Defendant testified that his friends later told him to stay away from Smith because Smith was dangerous and had gang ties.
*29Defendant testified that before the fight, he had purchased an unregistered nine-millimeter Glock handgun off the streets. He said he purchased it to protect his household, but did not normally carry it on his person. Nevertheless, he had it in his back waistband when he went to LaSalle's Bar on July 2, 2011, the night of the shooting. He arrived at the bar wearing a red Cincinnati Reds cap, even though he was a San Francisco Giants fan. The Cincinnati cap matched his outfit, which was all red and black.
Andre Shaw was at LaSalle's Bar the night of the shooting with his friend N.C. Defendant, whom they did not know, asked Shaw at one point if he was from Chico. N.C. and Shaw went to the bar's back patio, and Shaw was dancing on the dance floor. N.C. was standing next to him. Shaw heard two shots, then looked around to see defendant standing next to the DJ booth with a gun in his hand, firing it in the middle of the bar. Defendant was firing in Shaw's direction, and Shaw thought that defendant was aiming for him. Shaw ran out of the bar and did not see anyone get injured.
N.C. was standing near Shaw when she felt something hit her back. She fell to the floor. She saw Smith also on the ground, but not close enough for her to touch. She saw defendant standing at Smith's feet, shooting at Smith's chest area as Smith lay on the ground. N.C. was having difficulty breathing because her lung had been punctured. She also had a bruise on her right front hip where she carried her ATM card and
Another bar patron heard the first two shots, then moments later saw a man (Smith) drop to the ground. The shooter ran up, stood over the victim, and continued shooting him. The shooter emptied his clip into Smith as Smith lay on the ground, stepped away, did a little yell as if he'd scored a touchdown, and ran out the side door. Another patron said she heard the shots first, turned, and saw defendant *813walking across the bar shooting the gun.
One of the bartenders saw defendant shooting, and saw him slowly walking and moving to the right, swooping with his arm. Defendant had a snarl on his face. Defendant shot with one hand, and did not stabilize the gun with the other hand. There were about 280 patrons in the bar that night, plus staff. The bouncers count the patrons with a clicker as they come in. The bartender estimated there were about 50 people in the back patio area where the shooting occurred.
Defendant ran out of the bar and was chased and caught by one of the bouncers, who had looked up to see defendant after hearing the first shot. He *30watched defendant walk up to Smith and shoot again two or three more times. When the bouncer caught defendant after the shooting, defendant told the bouncer he had not done the shooting. The bouncer told defendant he had seen defendant do it, to which defendant did not reply. Defendant's gun was found discarded in some bushes. Defendant also told police initially that he had not done anything, and had not been at LaSalle's Bar that night.
When defendant was booked into the Butte County jail the next day, he stated that he was a "Blood associate but not a gang member," and that he could not be housed with Crips because the victim was "basically a Crip." Defendant thought Smith was a Crip because he wore the color blue.
The parties stipulated that a gun recovered from the bushes was a Glock firearm. The slide of the gun was locked open and there was no ammunition inside the magazine or barrel. Ten spent casings were collected from the scene of the shooting. All were fired from defendant's gun. The first spent casing was found all the way across the bar. Five more casings were found about halfway to the victim, and four more casings were found beside the victim. The floor of the bar, which was asphalt, had three impact marks from bullets beside where Smith had fallen. Based on the damage to the bullet fragments, these marks appeared to have been made when defendant was shooting in a downward direction. Three bullet impact marks were found in the wooden fence behind Smith, and one bullet was recovered that passed through the fence and lodged in a post. The two bullets recovered from N.C., and a bullet recovered from Smith's back were also fired by defendant's gun. At least some of the bullet fragments recovered were hollow point bullets, designed to open up when they strike human tissue and create more damage. It was not possible to determine whether all the bullet fragments were from hollow point bullets.
N.C. was treated for a gunshot that entered her right shoulder, went into her chest, and out her back. She had a collapsed lung and bruising on her hip where a bullet lodged in her ID card. Smith was treated for multiple gunshot wounds. At least four bullets struck him, causing approximately eight bullet wounds. Smith suffered internal bleeding, and received 27 blood transfusions. Two bullets were not able to be removed because they were lodged too close to his spine. Smith's spleen and part of his left lung were removed. Smith was in the hospital for two weeks, then was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital.
Defendant testified at trial. He admitted taking a gun into a bar and shooting it. He argued he acted in self-defense. He stated that sometime after the fight, but before the shooting, he heard from an acquaintance that Smith admitted being a little *814drunk the night of the fist fight, and that he said *31everything was "cool." Defendant took this to mean everything was not cool. The night of the shooting, Defendant saw Smith at LaSalle's Bar standing and talking to his friends. Smith started walking toward defendant. Defendant thought Smith was coming after him, so he pulled out his gun. Defendant claimed he fired two shots into the air as a warning.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on count 1, the attempted murder of Smith. The jury found defendant not guilty of count 2, the attempted murder of N.C., but guilty of the lesser included offense of attempted voluntary manslaughter. The jury found defendant guilty of count 3, assault of N.C. with a semiautomatic firearm. The jury also found true the special allegations attached to count 3, that defendant personally used a firearm within the meaning of Penal Code
The trial court stayed the sentence on count 2, attempted voluntary manslaughter. The court sentenced defendant to the upper term of nine years on count 3. The court also sentenced defendant to an additional 13 years for the enhancements, for a total aggregate sentence of 22 years.
DISCUSSION
I
Kill Zone Theory
A. Intent to Kill Requirement
Defendant challenges the theory of intent on which the prosecutor argued and the trial court instructed. The issue arises because both the attempted murder of N.C. and the attempted voluntary manslaughter of N.C., for which he was convicted, require an express intent to kill.
"Attempted murder requires the specific intent to kill and the commission of a direct but ineffectual act toward accomplishing the intended killing."
*32( People v. Lee (2003)
To satisfy the element of intent to kill N.C., the prosecution relied on a "kill zone" theory, and the trial court gave a "kill zone" instruction. The "kill zone" instruction was in all material respects taken directly from CALCRIM No. 600 : "As to Count 2 only, a person may intend to kill a specific victim or victims and, at the same time, intend to kill everyone in a particular zone of harm or, quote, 'kill zone' end quote. [¶] In order to convict the defendant of the attempted murder of people on the dance floor in the back patio of LaSalles, the People must prove that the defendant not only intended to kill ... Smith but also either intended to kill people on the dance floor in the back patio of LaSalles, or intended to kill everyone within the kill zone."
B. Bland and Its Progeny
The "kill zone" theory had its genesis with Bland, supra ,
Bland pointed to two other cases, which it considered "kill zone" cases. These were People v. Vang (2001)
The Supreme Court further explained the "kill zone" or concurrent intent theory in People v. Smith (2005)
*34The Supreme Court responded that the " 'kill zone' " theory did not preclude two convictions of attempted murder where the defendant fired a single bullet injuring a woman and her baby, who were both in the defendant's direct line of fire. ( Smith, supra , 37 Cal.4th at p. 745,
In People v. Stone (2009)
At the appellate level, courts have disagreed on whether the "kill zone" theory supporting an attempted murder conviction may be used where the method of killing is not designed to ensure the death of everyone in the "kill zone," as opposed to a method that merely creates an extremely high risk of killing those in the zone of danger. In People v. McCloud (2012)
McCloud held that the evidence did not support 46 attempted murder convictions. "In order for the kill zone theory to support 46 attempted murder convictions in the manner suggested by respondent, the record would have to contain evidence that Stringer and McCloud tried to kill the person who punched Stringer by killing all 46 people in the area where Stringer's assailant was located. But the record contains no evidence that Stringer or McCloud intended to kill 46 people with 10 bullets. Nor does the record contain evidence that it would have been possible for them to kill 46 people with 10 bullets (given the type of ammunition and firearm they used), or that they believed or had reason to believe it was possible." ( McCloud, supra , 211 Cal.App.4th at pp. 799-800,
Despite McCloud's restrictive view of the type of kill power the defendant would have to employ to warrant a "kill zone" instruction, the court found sufficient evidence to support a conviction for eight attempted murders, i.e., the 10 shots fired by the defendant convicted of the attempted *818murders, less two for the two victims who were killed. ( McCloud, supra , 211 Cal.App.4th at p. 807,
Likewise, in People v. Cardona (2016)
On the other hand, People v. Tran (2018)
C. Substantial Evidence
Defendant argues the "kill zone" theory was not supported by substantial evidence in that his behavior does not support the inference he intended to kill everyone in the zone.
" 'When considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we review the entire record in the light most favorable to the judgment to determine whether it contains substantial evidence-that is, evidence that is reasonable, credible, and of solid value-from which a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation.] We determine 'whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation.] In so doing, a reviewing court 'presumes in support of the judgment the existence of every fact the trier could reasonably deduce from the evidence.' [Citation.] ... '[I]t is well settled that intent to kill or express malice, the mental state required to convict a defendant of attempted murder, may ... be inferred from the defendant's acts and the circumstances of the crime.' [Citation.]" ( People v. Avila (2009)
*37Defendant first made this argument after the prosecution presented its evidence, when he moved for a judgment of acquittal on count 2, which at that time alleged that defendant "did unlawfully, and with malice *819aforethought attempt to murder people in the back patio of LaSalle's."
The trial court gave the following summary of the evidence before finding that there was sufficient evidence to support a "kill zone" theory:
"In this case, the evidence that has been presented to the Court is that there were 35 to 50 people on the back patio area. The evidence that has been presented shows that there were 10 shell casings, all in the area-I'm going to call it a cone shape or a V-shaped area, from the rear of the back patio near the DJ booth towards the fence and the bartender-the bar in the front of the back patio.
"The casings are along that zone. The area encompasses the dance floor and the fence and the bar towards the west of the back patio. [¶] ... [¶]
"The evidence, as presented so far, indicates that the defendant used a semiautomatic handgun; that the gun was pointed towards Mr. Smith; that he did not use a stabilizing hand to assist in his aiming; that he turned the firearm sideways at one point; that he fired from a distance at first and then approached the target victim, Mr. Smith.
"There is no evidence of spraying of bullets in a[n] indiscriminate manner. Or of a hail of bullets in an indiscriminate manner.
"The situation at the time of the ... shooting was dynamic. There were people dancing, moving about. There was music playing. There was strobe lights. And the number of shots fired were, approximately, 10.
"The evidence does show projectiles embedding into the fence behind the dance floor and near where Mr. Smith was standing, also, as well as some impressions on the concrete near Mr. Smith's body. [¶]
"[The] court does find that there is sufficient evidence to support a theory of a killing zone on the dance floor area.
*38"But as charged, people in the back patio of LaSalles, it's excessively broad and includes people that would be outside of the killing zone."
Thereafter, the prosecutor moved to amend the information to conform to proof, and for the court to reconsider its entry of judgment of acquittal on count 2. The trial court granted the People's request for reconsideration and allowed count 2 to be amended to charge defendant with attempting "to murder people on the dance floor in the back patio of LaSalle's." As indicated, the prosecutor argued the "kill zone" theory and the trial court gave the "kill zone" instruction.
Defendant's argument is that there was insufficient evidence the nature and scope of his attack sufficed to create a "kill zone." He argues the "kill zone" theory is inappropriate unless the perpetrator caused the target's death by means that would ensure to "a near certainty" that everyone in the target's vicinity will also die. Defendant argues no such "overkill" was established here.
The "kill zone" theory is a way of expressing what some legal theorists have referred to as " 'oblique' " intention. ( In re Stonewall F. (1989)
The theory, as expressed in the Supreme Court cases to date, does not require the defendant to use such force as to ensure that everyone in the "kill zone" is killed. If that were the case, nothing short of an explosive device strong enough to kill, not maim, would ever suffice. Exposure to poison may not always be a lethal dose, and bullets, even bullets from an automatic weapon, may not always hit their target. Illustrative of this fact are the "kill zone" cases cited in Bland. Defendant Gaither was guilty of seven counts of administering poison with intent to kill when he sent a pound and a half of candy containing enough arsenic to kill 75 people to a home inhabited by seven people. ( Gaither, supra , 173 Cal.App.2d at pp. 665-667,
"Kill zone" is a somewhat unfortunate term, since the implication is that the theory requires a physical space that is necessarily deadly to all that inhabit it. This does not adequately describe the case of poisoned candy that sickens or kills those who eat it, or the case of gunfire, however concentrated, directed toward multiple persons. In truth, the concept attempts to describe a level of culpability and risk that society is unwilling to tolerate. It describes a type of intent that is "a kind of knowledge or realization." (Williams, supra , 46 Cambridge L.J. at p. 421.) Clearly, a defendant cannot escape punishment for murder by asserting that when he planted a bomb on an airplane he only intended to kill one particular passenger. This is because even though such defendant did not desire the death of the other passengers, he knew (barring some intervening factor) that everyone on the plane would be killed. No one would argue that he did not intend his actions would result in their death, and therefore that he intended to kill them. Similarly, if the same defendant were to be prevented from detonating the bomb, no one would argue that he would not be guilty of the attempted murder of everyone on the plane.
In this case, as in Bland, Vang , Gaither , and Tran , it is not as clear as the bomb on the plane that defendant intended his actions would result in the death of people in Smith's vicinity. However, the circumstances of the shooting were such that defendant must be charged with knowing that anyone in the path of the lethal bullets could die, and knowing that others were in the path of the bullets. The relevant circumstances are: the shooting occurred in a bar; defendant shot across the bar toward a dance floor approximately 24 feet away where people were in motion; several people were in Smith's vicinity; a strobe light was going off; defendant *821was shooting from a distance and moving as he fired; defendant was not stabilizing his gun hand to make his aim more precise; defendant fired 10 shots, and at least one of the bullets was a hollow point bullet that is designed to inflict maximum tissue damage. Defendant may not have wanted to kill N.C., but he is charged with knowingly engaging in lethal actions under circumstances in which the difference between life and death was mere inches. His actions were more than reckless. On a scale of probability between unlikely and certain, the chances that his actions would kill someone on the dance floor of the bar were sufficiently close to certain that a reasonable jury could conclude he intended to kill someone on the dance floor. There was sufficient evidence that defendant intended to kill people on the dance floor in the bar under a "kill zone" theory. *40Defendant also argues there was insufficient evidence to adequately define the parameters of the "kill zone," and without such defined parameters, the evidence would only support an inference of implied malice based on a conscious disregard for life-insufficient for attempted murder. We disagree. As explained, the "kill zone" theory is an attempt to describe a defendant's knowledge and realization of risk, not a physical space. There was no requirement that the parameters of the "kill zone" be defined. There was certainly no such requirement here, where the victim of the attempted murder was, in fact, shot and seriously wounded.
D. "Kill Zone" Jury Instruction
Defendant argues that even if there was sufficient evidence to support a "kill zone" instruction, the instruction did not provide enough guidance for the jury to determine whether a "kill zone" existed and whether he used sufficient force to create such a zone. He argues the language of the instruction deprived him of due process. To the extent defendant complains that the instruction did not require the jury to determine the dimensions of the "kill zone," we have already held there is no requirement the parameters of the "kill zone" be defined.
Defendant did not object to the "kill zone" instruction. When the trial court's instruction is a correct statement of the law, defendant's failure to request an amplifying or clarifying instruction bars appellate review. ( People v. Ashmus (1991)
II-VII
*41DISPOSITION
The matter is remanded to the trial court to exercise its newly bestowed discretion regarding whether to strike the sentencing enhancement imposed pursuant to section 12022.5, subdivision (a). In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.
We concur:
HULL, J.
HOCH, J.
She heard more than one, but less than five shots before turning to look.
None of the eyewitnesses confirmed this.
Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.
Count 2 was originally charged as an attempt to murder N.C., but the trial court found there was insufficient evidence to hold defendant to answer that count. The prosecution refiled count 2 as indicated above.
See footnote *, ante .
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.