Attacker Insane When He Stabbed Sleeping Homeless Man in Santa Monica, Jury Finds

A jury determined today that a man who stabbed three homeless people as they slept in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Hollywood wasn’t sane at the time of the crimes.

Courtney Anthony Robinson, 40, was ordered to be sent to Patton State Hospital following the jury’s verdict in the sanity phase of his trial.

Robinson was found guilty Tuesday of three counts of attempted murder for the attacks on July 3, 2012, on a man in downtown Los Angeles; on a man in Santa Monica on July 17, 2012; and on a woman in Hollywood on July 19, 2012.

Jurors also found true the allegations that Robinson acted willfully, deliberately and with premeditation, that he personally used a knife in the commission of the crimes and that two of the victims suffered great bodily injury.

Deputy District Attorney Ian Phan told jurors that Robinson admitted to a police detective that he intended to kill the victims. The prosecutor said so- called “death warrants” found at the crime scenes were typed and appeared to have been prepared ahead of time.

“He didn’t just scribble a death warrant on the spot,” the prosecutor said.

Robinson’s attorney, Thomas Summers, countered that the jury had heard about “delusions ... (that) are the opposite of carefully weighing for or against his choices.”

“He was convinced that he was acting on the orders of God,” the defense lawyer said in urging jurors to reject the allegation that Robinson acted willfully, deliberately and with premeditation.

Robinson, who had recently arrived in Los Angeles from the Santa Barbara area, called 911 and surrendered to police on July 20, 2012, after seeing his face on “wanted” fliers distributed around Los Angeles.

• City News Service

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