P. v. Brown
In this unprovoked and random drive-by shooting with a semiautomatic handgun, the two teenage defendants both testified that the other one was the shooter. A jury convicted 17-year-old Denzel Demar Crisp, the passenger, of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and assault with a semiautomatic firearm, but failed to reach a verdict on the attempted murder charge. The related gun and great bodily injury enhancements were found to be true. Eighteen-year-old Steven Brown, Jr., the driver, was convicted of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, knowingly permitting another person to discharge a firearm from his vehicle, and carrying a concealed firearm. The related firearm enhancement was also found to be true.
Neither boy had a prior record. Whereas the trial court sentenced Crisp to state prison for an aggregate term of 30 years to life, it sentenced Brown to seven years eight months. On appeal, defendants challenge several jury instructions, the sufficiency of the evidence, and, in Crisp’s case, the constitutionality of his sentence. We affirm.
Comments on P. v. Brown