Date: 03-22-2014

Case Style: The People v. Christopher Peter Ebert-Stallworth

Case Number: 13F00796

Judge: Allen H. Sumner

Court: Superior Court, Sacramento County, California

Plaintiff's Attorney: Andrew Smith

Defendant's Attorney:

Description: The People charged Christopher Peter Ebert-Stallworth, age 20, with first-degree murder for the January 4, 2013 shooing death of Baron Seidel during a purported pot deal. The State claimed that Ebert-Stallworth tried to rob Seidel.

California Penal Code Section 187 provides:

187. (a) Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a
fetus, with malice aforethought.
(b) This section shall not apply to any person who commits an act
that results in the death of a fetus if any of the following apply:
(1) The act complied with the Therapeutic Abortion Act, Article 2
(commencing with Section 123400) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division
106 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) The act was committed by a holder of a physician's and surgeon'
s certificate, as defined in the Business and Professions Code, in a
case where, to a medical certainty, the result of childbirth would be
death of the mother of the fetus or where her death from childbirth,
although not medically certain, would be substantially certain or
more likely than not.
(3) The act was solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the
mother of the fetus.
(c) Subdivision (b) shall not be construed to prohibit the
prosecution of any person under any other provision of law.

California Penal Code Section PC 664/211 provides:

664. Every person who attempts to commit any crime, but fails, or
is prevented or intercepted in its perpetration, shall be punished
where no provision is made by law for the punishment of those
attempts, as follows:
(a) If the crime attempted is punishable by imprisonment in the
state prison, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 1170, the person guilty of the attempt shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison or in a county jail, respectively,
for one-half the term of imprisonment prescribed upon a conviction of
the offense attempted. However, if the crime attempted is willful,
deliberate, and premeditated murder, as defined in Section 189, the
person guilty of that attempt shall be punished by imprisonment in
the state prison for life with the possibility of parole. If the
crime attempted is any other one in which the maximum sentence is
life imprisonment or death, the person guilty of the attempt shall be
punished by imprisonment in the state prison for five, seven, or
nine years. The additional term provided in this section for
attempted willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder shall not be
imposed unless the fact that the attempted murder was willful,
deliberate, and premeditated is charged in the accusatory pleading
and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact.
(b) If the crime attempted is punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail, the person guilty of the attempt shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail for a term not exceeding one-half the
term of imprisonment prescribed upon a conviction of the offense
attempted.
(c) If the offense so attempted is punishable by a fine, the
offender convicted of that attempt shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding one-half the largest fine which may be imposed upon a
conviction of the offense attempted.
(d) If a crime is divided into degrees, an attempt to commit the
crime may be of any of those degrees, and the punishment for the
attempt shall be determined as provided by this section.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if attempted murder is
committed upon a peace officer or firefighter, as those terms are
defined in paragraphs (7) and (9) of subdivision (a) of Section
190.2, a custodial officer, as that term is defined in subdivision
(a) of Section 831 or subdivision (a) of Section 831.5, a custody
assistant, as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section
831.7, or a nonsworn uniformed employee of a sheriff's department
whose job entails the care or control of inmates in a detention
facility, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 289.6, and the
person who commits the offense knows or reasonably should know that
the victim is a peace officer, firefighter, custodial officer,
custody assistant, or nonsworn uniformed employee of a sheriff's
department engaged in the performance of his or her duties, the
person guilty of the attempt shall be punished by imprisonment in the
state prison for life with the possibility of parole.
This subdivision shall apply if it is proven that a direct but
ineffectual act was committed by one person toward killing another
human being and the person committing the act harbored express malice
aforethought, namely, a specific intent to unlawfully kill another
human being. The Legislature finds and declares that this paragraph
is declaratory of existing law.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the elements of
subdivision (e) are proven in an attempted murder and it is also
charged and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact that
the attempted murder was willful, deliberate, and premeditated, the
person guilty of the attempt shall be punished by imprisonment in the
state prison for 15 years to life. Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 2930) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 shall not apply to
reduce this minimum term of 15 years in state prison, and the person
shall not be released prior to serving 15 years' confinement.

Outcome: Convicted of second-degree murder.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: