Lying in Wait

Kurt Michaels planned and executed the murder of JoAnn Clemons.' He and an accomplice waited at a construction site adjacent to some apartments where they could view the victim's third-story window After several hours, the light in the victim's apartment went out and the two set off across the parking lot, walked up the stairwell and, using a key supplied by the victim's daughter, entered the apartment.' The victim called out, "Who is it?" Michaels and his cohort entered her bedroom, struggled with the victim and killed her. The San Diego District Attorney capitally charged Michaels, alleging as one of the death qualifying circumstances that Michaels murdered while "lying in wait."