P. v. Horne
In 1983, Larry Crafts was shot and killed just after locking up the Burger King where he was assistant manager. Although the police suspected that the shooting had occurred in the course of an attempted robbery, it did not appear that any property had been taken. The crime remained unsolved until 2005, when defendant Kenneth Duran Horne walked into a police station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and, to ease his conscience, confessed. Presumably in consideration of defendants confession, the prosecution elected not to seek the death penalty. However, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a), 189), with a robbery-murder special circumstance (Pen. Code, 190.2, subd. (17)(A)) and a personal firearm use enhancement (Pen. Code, 12022.5, subd. (a)). In a bifurcated proceeding, defendant admitted two 5-year prior serious felony enhancements. (Pen. Code, 667, subd. (a).) As a result, defendant was sentenced to a determinate term of 12 years and an indeterminate term life without the possibility of parole. Reversal is necessary in that the court misinstructed the jury on a key element.
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