A panel of appellate justices have overturned the murder conviction of a 42-year-old transient convicted in 2019 of gunning down a man at an Anaheim motel while kidnapping his own girlfriend.
Luke Theodore Lampers was found guilty Sept. 26, 2019, of first-degree murder, and jurors found true a special-circumstance allegation of killing during a kidnapping. Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue sentenced the defendant to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 25 years to life in prison in May 2022 due to Lampers hiring a new attorney and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal justices overturned the conviction, faulting Donahue for failing to instruct jurors on lesser charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter as well as a legal theory on self-defense. The justices sent the case back for another trial.
Lampers was convicted of killing 49-year-old Douglas Navarro on Jan. 11, 2017, at the Crystal Inn at 2123 W. Lincoln Ave.
The justices, in a ruling handed down Wednesday, concluded “substantial evidence was presented at trial that Lampers committed a lesser included offense and not felony murder. Thus, the court should have instructed the jury on the lesser included offenses and self-defense. We further conclude the error was prejudicial because it is reasonably probable Lampers would have obtained a more favorable outcome if the jury had received those instructions.”
At issue during the trial was whether the kidnapping and killing were connected or separate crimes, which would affect what instructions jurors received.
“There was undisputed evidence Lampers intentionally kidnapped (Brianna) Deese and undisputed evidence Lampers killed Navarro,” the justices said in the ruling. “The disputed issue was whether Lampers killed Navarro while committing the kidnapping.”
The justices added, “There was strong evidence Lampers committed one continuous kidnapping and shot Navarro during it. Lampers took Deese by force and removed her from the motel. He returned her to the motel so she could get her belongings, and after shooting Navarro, Lampers made Deese get back in the car and leave with him.”
The justices said, however, “there was also evidence to support the theory Lampers committed two kidnappings and shot Navarro after the first kidnapping ended, but before the second began. When Lampers shot Navarro, Deese was in the motel room and no longer under Lampers’s control.”
Deese and Lampers met on Christmas Eve in 2016. Deese was a heroin and methamphetamine user and was homeless, according to the ruling. She ended up staying at Lampers’ apartment for about a week until they got into an argument and she left after he put a gun to her head and said she was not allowed to leave, according to evidence prosecutor put on at trial.
As Deese “couch surfed,” Lampers repeatedly called her and apologized and pleaded with her to return. They met again two other times so he could give her money, drugs and some of the belongings she left behind, according to the trial testimony.
Lampers found Deese at the motel and dragged her out by her hair, prosecutors said. On the way out they passed by Navarro, who did not try to stop them. A hysterical Deese convinced Lampers to drive her back to the motel to get her things.
Other residents at the motel blocked her from going in as they were trying to fix the door Lampers busted, prosecutors said.
“A heated argument ensued and continued for several minutes; Lampers and (another resident) were doing most of the yelling,” the justices wrote. “Navarro was also yelling at Lampers. Navarro demanded Lampers pay for the damage to the door because Navarro’s mother lived and worked at the motel and he did not want it to be a problem for her. Lampers refused to pay and continued to insist they let Deese into the room so she could get her belongings and they could leave. Deese and hysterical and crying.”
Eventually, Deese was allowed back into the room, but the argument with Lampers continued and ultimately led to the shooting.