P. v. Welch CA2/7
An information filed in 1987 charged Welch with first degree murder (§ 187) and attempted robbery (§§ 211, 664) with a special allegation he had used a firearm in committing the offenses. The police report attached to Welch’s 2016 petition for writ of habeas corpus stated the victim, Jacques Armstrong, had been shot through the open passenger window of his automobile by one of a group of men who had approached Armstrong after he and a friend left a local market, apparently as part of an attempted carjacking or robbery. Armstrong was identified by a witness at the scene as the shooter.
At a pretrial hearing on April 12, 1988 the parties indicated a disposition had been reached, and Welch pleaded no contest to second degree murder. As reflected in the reporter’s transcript of that hearing, the trial court explained the People’s theory of the case was that Welch shot the victim during the course of an attempted robbery, which would be first degree felony murder.
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