People v. Yeoman

A jury found defendant Ralph Michael Yeoman guilty of the first degree murder of Doris Horrell and found true the special circumstance that the murder occurred during the commission of a robbery. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A).) 1 The jury also found defendant guilty of robbery and false imprisonment (§§ 211, 236) and found true the allegation that, in each of these crimes, defendant personally used a firearm (§ 12022.5). The jury found not true the additional special circumstance that the murder occurred during the commission of a kidnapping. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(B).) The jury imposed the sentence of death. The trial court stayed the convictions for robbery and false imprisonment under section 654, struck the enhancements under section 1385 and entered judgment accordingly. This is the automatic appeal from that judgment. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm. I. Facts A. Guilt Phase 1. The Murder of Doris Horrell Defendant robbed and murdered Doris Horrell, a 73-year-old resident of Citrus Heights, on February 13, 1988. Sheriff's deputies found her body about 9:40 p.m. in an open field west of Interstate 5 in Sacramento County, while setting flares to direct traffic out of the Arco Arena. Horrell had left a Valentine's Day party earlier that evening in her car to pick up an acquaintance at the airport. She was wearing a bright red dress, jewelry and designer eyeglasses. Police found no jewelry, eyeglasses, keys or purse. Nor did they find a coat, but they did find three lavender-colored buttons. Post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death as six gunshot wounds to the head and left side of the body, any of which could have been fatal. The shots had been fired at close range from a .22-caliber gun. Horrell's inoperable car was later towed from the side of the freeway, about four miles from the place where her body had been found. Investigators determined that a palm print on the hood of Horrell's car was defendant's and that the fatal bullets had the general characteristics of rounds fired from defendant's .22-caliber revolver.