People v. Swain

Facts

On January 13, 1991, a brown van slowed down near a 15 year old boy. Several shots were fired from the front of the van. Defendant Chatman and another young man also fired guns from the rear of the van. The boy was shot twice from behind and died.

Afterward, defendant Swain was in jail and he boasted to jailmates about what good aim he had with a gun. He told them that he had shot the boy.

The police recovered the van and found Swain’s fingerprints inside. They also found a gun that belong to Chatman. Chatman told police that he and two other people, not including Swain, had driven the van to the crime scene in order to get revenge for a car theft by a rival gang. He insisted that Swain had not been inside of the van and that the original plan was to steal the car back, however, he had fired shots after he thought someone was shooting at the van.

Swain testified that he was not in the van during the shooting and did not do any shooting. He claimed he had entered the van earlier in the evening, and that is how his fingerprints were inside of the van.

The jury found defendant Chatman guilty of second degree murder and conspiracy. They found defendant Swain guilty of conspiracy. They made a finding under the conspiracy count that the target offense of the conspiracy was an implied malice theory of second degree murder. The defendants appealed, arguing that where, as here, the target offense is second degree murder, conspiracy requires proof of express malice rather than implied malice.