Man convicted in fatal 2009 home-invasion robbery won't get new trial
A judge on Friday denied a request for a new trial made by a man convicted of murder in July for aiding and abetting a 2009 Los Osos robbery that ended in a fatal shooting.
Ryan James Johnson, 35, argued in San Luis Obispo Superior Court that he had no malicious intent to kill and that a criminal state of mind was never established.
Johnson, who wasn’t present at the scene of the robbery and shooting, recently wrote a letter to The Tribune saying, “I have been wrongly convicted.”
“I am not a clairvoyant nor am I telepathic, and unfortunately I do not contain the power of the Jedi mind trick,” he added. “My point is I could not have condoned an act that of which I did not know about.”
But Judge Barry LaBarbera said that if it weren’t for Johnson making robbers Jesse Bakerriley and Kelsey Alvarez aware of victim Pete Davis, the incident never would have occurred.
In July, jurors found Johnson guilty of five charges: first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree home burglary, being a principal in a crime involving a firearm, and first-degree home robbery using a firearm.
Bakerriley and Alvarez went to Davis’ home and attempted to rob him of money and marijuana before Davis’ self-defense shooting and killing of Alvarez.
Johnson was at a female friend’s home when the crime occurred. He told his friend that “his homies” were taking care of something at the time of the crime, a transcript from trial testimony stated.
Johnson knew of the location of Davis’ home and about his marijuana plants and conspired with his friends to target Davis’ home for a robbery, according to testimony during trial.
Wielding a gun, Bakerriley threatened the lives of Davis and his friend Dylan Baumann with a crazed look and then ate some of their take-out Thai food.
Bakerriley then laughed after he forced Davis to open a fortune cookie that read, “There will be many upcoming opportunities. Take advantage of them.”
Davis later grabbed a gun he had in his home after being escorted to a back room by Bakerriley, who turned his back on Davis.
Davis shot at Bakerriley, striking Alvarez instead, and then wrestled a gun out of the hand of Bakerriley who squeezed the trigger, but the weapon didn’t fire. Davis rained blows upon Bakerriley until he was knocked out, according to the trial transcript.
“Once someone is involved in a provocative act, once you are aider and abettor with guns, and a robbery ends up in death, you can be held accountable as a principal,” LaBarbera said.
Raymond Allen, Johnson’s attorney, argued for a new trial, pointing to evidence that Johnson didn’t commit the act and didn’t act as a getaway driver.
The consequences weren’t a natural and probable consequence of the robbery, Allen said. But his argument did not prevail.Johnson’s sentencing is scheduled for Thursday before LaBarbera.
This story was originally published April 6, 2012 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Man convicted in fatal 2009 home-invasion robbery won't get new trial."