People v. Forbes

Opinion

SMITH, J.

—A jury found Flores Alexander Forbes guilty of the second degree murder of Louis Talbert Johnson. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189.) Johnson was killed by M-16 rifle fire in the predawn hours of October 23, 1977, during an incident in which he, Forbes and a third individual made an armed assault on a Richmond residence in an evident attempt to dissuade a witness from testifying the next day in a murder prosecution against Black Panther Party member Huey Newton. In finding Forbes guilty of second degree murder, the jury relied on the doctrine of transferred intent, specially finding…