P. v. Clay CA1/4
Willie M. Clay II (Clay) killed the man who had killed Clay’s teenage son three years earlier. Clay claimed he killed in self-defense because he believed his own life was in danger. Indeed, by many accounts, the man he killed was an extremely violent gang member who had threatened to kill Clay either personally or through a hitman. The trial judge instructed on imperfect self-defense, but not on perfect self-defense, because Clay, without immediate provocation, approached the man from the rear and shot him in the back after lying in wait for him. Then, when the man fell, Clay fired three more bullets into the back of his neck and head. The jury found Clay guilty of first degree special circumstance murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, plus 25 years to life imposed consecutively under Penal Code section 12022.53, subdivision (d).
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