People v. DeFrance

Opinion

MORRISON, Acting P. J.

When Stephan Elaine Brophy tried to stop defendant Curtis Bryant DeFrance from stealing her son’s car, defendant ran over Brophy and killed her. Defendant was convicted by jury of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) with a robbery special circumstance (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) and a deadly weapon enhancement (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b)(1)), robbery (Pen. Code, § 211), and vehicle theft (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)). He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus one year.

In this very short murder trial, the…