People v. Clark
California Supreme Court
63 Cal. 4th 522, 372 P.3d 811 (2016)
- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
William Clinton Clark (defendant) planned to rob an electronics store along with Nokkuwa Ervin and a few other people, including Clark’s brother. Clark surveilled the store prior to the night of the robbery and helped an accomplice obtain a fraudulent driver’s license to rent a truck to load and carry away merchandise from the store. On the evening of the attempted robbery, Ervin and others entered the store after closing, brandishing a gun, and handcuffed the employees in the restroom. Clark waited in his car in a nearby parking lot. A woman named Kathy Lee approached the store to pick up her son who worked there, and Ervin shot and killed her. Clark was driving up to the loading dock at the time. Ervin ran out of the store and tried to get in Clark’s car, but Clark drove away. Police arrived and arrested Ervin. Clark was convicted of first-degree murder while engaged in the commission of a burglary and a robbery. The burglary-murder and robbery-murder findings were two of several special circumstances the jury identified as warranting the death penalty. Clark was sentenced to death, and an automatic appeal followed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cuéllar, J.)
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