P. v. Metzger and Hernandez
Burton Roy Metzger and Darrick Omar Hernandez appeal from judgments entered after they were convicted by separate juries in a unitary trial. Fifteen year old Hernandez was convicted of the first degree premeditated murder of his mother (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a), 189)[1]with special findings that he personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim and personally used a deadly weapon. ( 1203.075; 12022, subd. (b)(1).) Metzger was convicted of second degree murder ( 187, subd. (a), 189) as an aider and abettor. He was also an accessory after the fact. ( 32.) The trial court sentenced Hernandez to 25 years to life, plus one year on the weapon enhancement. Metzger was sentenced to 15 years to life state prison.
We affirm the judgment as to Hernandez. With respect to Metzger, we vacate the accessory conviction because liability as an accessory is subsumed in the conviction for aiding and abetting. (People v. Nguyen (1993) 21 Cal.App.4th 518, 536-537; People v. Francis (1982) 129 Cal.App.3d 241, 251-253.) We conclude that Metzger's conviction for second degree murder as an aider and abettor is supported by substantial evidence and affirm the judgment as modified. Metzger's sentence remains the same.
Comments on P. v. Metzger and Hernandez