A New Zealand couple’s vacation in Southern California ended in tragedy. The couple, a prominent businessman in New Zealand and his wife were visiting Newport Beach’s iconic outdoor shopping mall Fashion Island. There they were accosted by two men brandishing guns. Perhaps the two men didn’t intend their robbery to end in murder, but it did. One of the men put a gun to the businessman’s head while another dragged the businessman’s wife to into the street as he tried to pull away the shopping bags she was carrying from her. Another accomplice, the getaway driver pulled his car toward the man trying to grab the shopping bags. In the process, the getaway driver ran over the woman and dragged her body across the parking lot resulting in the woman’s death.
While not all murders are capital murder cases (that is, a murder charge eligible for the death penalty), the circumstance here makes the crime a potential capital murder case and indeed, all three men have been charged by the Orange County District Attorney with capital murder.
You may wonder how all three could be charged with capital murder when there did not appear to be an intent to murder the woman and her death was caused only by the driver. The answer is special circumstances. The men are all charged with murder in commission of a felony (robbery) which is a special circumstances charge. This charge does not require the intent to commit murder but only that the underlying felony was intended. Furthermore, the special circumstances murder charge applies to anyone who aided or abetted the underlying crime that resulted in the murder.
Even if a jury finds these defendants guilty, it does not necessarily mean they will get the death penalty. The jury would have to unanimously find that the special circumstances apply. In the alternative, the jury could return a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. If a jury returns a verdict of death, the judge can reduce the sentence to life in prison without parole. And even if the defendants are sentenced to death, there has been a moratorium on the death penalty in California since 2019. A change in the political composition of California could change that.
This crime was a jolt to the normally safe community of Newport Beach. Two of the perpetrators were from Los Angeles and one was from Lancaster. At least one of the men is a third-striker who had been released on probation without serving prison time for recent felony convictions for residential burglary, criminal threats, and robbery in Los Angeles County.
This was a tragedy not only for the victims and for Newport Beach, but the tragedy reverberated through New Zealand. The couple were friends with the New Zealand Prime Minister and the husband was the former chair of the Bank of New Zealand, as well as holding other prominent positions in the country.
Orange County criminal defense attorney William Weinberg is available to discuss your criminal matter. He offers a complimentary consultation where he will review the circumstances of your case and offer his assessment of your options. He may be contacted by calling his Irvine office at 949-474-8008 or by emailing him at bill@williamweinberg.com