The General Amusement Company

On October 26, 1965, at 10:45 AM, the Defendant and a co-defendant, armed respectively with a handgun and a blackjack, entered the rear offices of the victim's business in Los Angeles County. They ordered the employees to gather at the front of the premises where the secretaries worked. The Defendant, carrying the gun, entered the private office of the victim — the 60-year-old owner and manager — and propelled him by the elbow out to where the other employees were gathered. The victim appeared "very frightened and pale" as he emerged "in a kind of hurry." The robbers required all victims to lie on the floor while they took money from the premises. They were inside for ten to fifteen minutes. As they left, they told the victims to remain on the floor for five minutes. A second co-defendant drove the getaway car. Within fifteen to twenty minutes of the robbery, the victim began having difficulty breathing, rubbed his chest, and told a police officer he was feeling ill and had chest pains. He then collapsed and died of a heart attack. At trial, medical experts testified that the victim had severe, pre-existing atherosclerosis — advanced coronary artery disease — and that, but for the shock and fright induced by the robbery, he would not have suffered the fatal heart attack that day.