People v. Moore

Opinion

FEINERMAN, P. J. —After a jury trial, defendant Spencer Wayne Moore was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187). The jury further found that the defendant personally used a firearm as to both counts (Pen. Code, § 12022.5) and personálly inflicted great bodily [1539]injury as to one count (Pen. Code, § 12022.7). Defendant was committed to the California Youth Authority for a period not to exceed 10 years and was given credit for 257 days, including 86 days good time/work time.

On appeal, defendant contends that a mistrial should have been granted by the trial court when it was ascertained that certain handwritten notes of a police interrogation of a defense witness were not turned over to defense counsel prior to the testimony of the defense witness. The trial court found that the failure to turn over an investigating officer’s notes, despite an informal agreement between the prosecution and defense for complete discovery, was not prejudicial. We concur and affirm the judgment.

Background

On October 7, 1983, the defendant was 16 years of age and a student at Compton High School in Los Angeles County. He resided in an area which was the neighborhood of the Lantana Block Crips (LBC) gang. The evidence was in conflict as to whether defendant was a member of the gang. Patrick Smith (Smith) was a former Compton High School student who was a member of a rival gang known as the Neighborhood Block Crips (NBC). On October 7, 1983, while he was on the campus of Compton High School, the undisputed evidence discloses that defendant aimed an automatic handgun at Smith and fired four shots. One bullet passed through Smith’s arm and another bullet hit Karlene Barnes, a Compton High School student, who was trying to flee from the area of the shooting.

During the trial, the defendant and his witnesses attempted to prove that the defendant had been threatened by the NBC, had been provoked by Smith and had acted in self-defense when he shot Smith. The People’s witnesses told a different story. Their evidence demonstrated that the defendant had a verbal altercation with Smith, that Smith never threatened the defendant with a weapon, that the defendant walked away from Smith after their verbal tiff and that defendant then turned around, pulled out a gun and fired four shots in quick succession in Smith’s direction. Thereafter, defendant ran off campus and hid the gun he had used in an empty lot.1