People v. Rand

Opinion

DABNEY, J.

Defendant Eddie Lee Rand (defendant) appeals his conviction of first degree murder of Clinton Sharp III. (Pen. Code, § 187.) The jury found true enhancement allegations that defendant personally used a firearm, that a principal was armed, and that defendant discharged a firearm from a motor vehicle causing injury or death. (Pen. Code, §§ 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022, subd. (a)(1), 12022.55.) Defendant’s motion for new trial was denied.

[1001]

He was sentenced to twenty-five years to life for the murder, in addition to a determinate sentence consisting of four years for firearm use and five years for causing injury or death by discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle.

Facts

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Discussion

I.

Insufficiency of the Evidence*

II.

Sufficient Evidence of Premeditation and Deliberation

Defendant also claims there was insufficient evidence to establish premeditation and deliberation. Defendant, an avowed Crip, argues that “[t]here was evidence of motive only if the court accepts that the group by the roadside was an assembly of Bloods,” but fails to explain why this motive evaporates if Holmes and his friends and relatives were innocent bystanders, some of whom happened to be wearing red. According to defendant’s own argument, “Bloods and Crips hate each other so much Bloods omit the letter ‘C’ in words and Crips omit the letter ‘B.’ [Citation.] ‘The intensity of their rivalry often precipitates hostile confrontation resulting in serious injury and death.’ [Citation.]” Apparently, defendant argues that, because Crips and Bloods hate each other so much, “[a] Blood [or anyone else, for that matter] dressed in red is a provocation to a Crip, and is intended to be a provocation to a Crip.” Thus, “for a Crip to shoot a Blood . . . is a proverbial ‘kneejerk’ reaction, just the opposite of a shooting done with premeditation and deliberation.”

Defendant’s argument is nonsensical. A studied hatred and enmity, including a preplanned, purposeful resolve to shoot anyone in a certain neighborhood wearing a certain color, evidences the most cold-blooded, most calculated, most culpable, kind of premeditation and deliberation.