A state appeals court panel Friday ordered a new hearing for one of three men convicted of the 1997 robbery-murder of a woman who was followed from the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found that Carl Higgins is entitled to an evidentiary hearing in a Los Angeles County courtroom to determine whether he could now be convicted of felony murder as a result of a recent change in state law.
The appellate court panel noted that a judge had earlier summarily denied Higgins’ request for re-sentencing under a state law that allows defendants in some murder cases to file petitions seeking to vacate their murder convictions and be re-sentenced on the remaining counts.
Higgins, now 47, was convicted along with co-defendants Donald Ray Debose, now 44, and Anthony Flagg, now 46, in connection with the Dec. 17, 1997, attack on Dannie Kim, who was followed out of the casino after gambling and was discovered later that morning in the trunk of her burning Chrysler LeBaron in front of an Inglewood elementary school.
The 32-year-old Walla Walla, Washington, woman — who suffered severe burns and had been shot — died five days later from her injuries.
Higgins and Flagg were each sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Debose was sentenced to death.
The appellate court panel noted that security cameras at the casino recorded the movements of the three men, who “appeared to monitor the gambling activities of Dannie Kim” and then followed her out of the casino after she collected her winnings.
In a 2014 ruling that upheld Debose’s death sentence, the California Supreme Court found that Kim was held captive before she was killed.
“Her captivity took place, at least at the end, in full public view on a residential street. Her pleading and arguing with defendant attracted the attention of witnesses who heard the commotion,” according to the 2014 ruling.
Debose was also convicted of attempted murder and second-degree robbery of another woman, who survived being shot in the head after being followed home to Rancho Cucamonga from the same casino on Dec. 23, 1997.
“Here, defendant’s death sentence is proportionate to his individual involvement and culpability. Coupled with the circumstances of the crimes, the evidence strongly points to defendant as the shooter of Kim; furthermore, less than a week later, defendant, acting alone, viciously attacked, robbed and shot a second victim … in the head at point-blank range. It moreover is reasonable to infer that because defendant was the only one involved in both incidents, he planned and orchestrated them,” the California Supreme Court found in the 2014 ruling involving Debose.