Teen Accomplice Guilty in 1994 Hate-Crime Killing

A teenager who toted Hitler quotations and a white-supremacist cartoon was convicted Tuesday of murder and a hate crime as the accomplice in the fatal shooting of a black man in Huntington Beach in 1994.

An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated about 2 1/2 days before finding Robert Dylan Wofford, now 19, guilty of second-degree murder and the added hate crime charge. Wofford, who is white, faces up to 19 years to life in prison.

The verdict unleashed a torrent of emotion among relatives and friends of 44-year-old Vernon Flournoy, a refrigeration technician slain by strangers outside a fast-food restaurant.

“Oh, thank God!” said La Verne Clark, who was formerly married to Flournoy. “Oh, thank you!” Clark embraced the victim’s widow, Sharon Flournoy, who wept loudly.

The verdict came after jurors had been divided over whether Wofford was just as responsible for the murder as the shooter, Jonathan Russell Kinsey, who is awaiting sentencing.

Wofford, who denied racial animosity, testified he exchanged blows with the victim but did not know Kinsey had a gun until it was fired.

“We all felt he went along as a stupid kid,” said jury forewoman Pamela Johnson, a Trabuco Canyon clerk. But she said that in finding Wofford guilty jurors followed the law, which holds accomplices just as responsible for a crime if they should have foreseen the consequences of their actions.

“What I’d like to say to all kids is, they should watch the company they keep,” Johnson said.

Sharon Flournoy, a contract mortgage underwriter, said the verdict served to condemn racial bigotry in a time when a rash of hate incidents have occurred in Orange County.

“A message is sent out to the community . . . that it won’t be tolerated,” said Flournoy, who lives in Huntington Beach. “I’m very pleased today.”

Kinsey, 20, of Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty two weeks ago to murder and hate crime charges in connection with Flournoy’s killing on Sept. 15, 1994, along with felony charges relating to a separate shooting attack on two Latino men.

Wofford of Laguna Niguel and Kinsey are to be sentenced April 26 by Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald.

Wofford’s defense lawyer had argued that Wofford was not responsible for the violent actions of Kinsey, whom the defendant had only recently met.

“Obviously we’re upset with the verdict,” said attorney Patrick McNeal. “The conclusion is that the explosiveness of another individual is my client’s responsibility.”

Logan Stewart, a friend of Wofford’s, insisted after the verdict that the racist materials found in Wofford’s wallet were not proof of a hate motive. Stewart said such materials are commonly distributed in downtown Huntington Beach.

“That was just junk,” Stewart said. “You could get fliers like that on any corner.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki argued that the fatal confrontation was a “joint venture” between Wofford and Kinsey, who sports a number of white-power tattoos. One prosecution witness testified that Wofford and Kinsey blocked Flournoy’s path to provoke a fight. Another said Wofford used a racial slur when he told friends about the shooting. The prosecutor also presented a 1993 school essay in which Wofford said he believed in white power and would be willing to die for his race.

“If you choose to violate the rights of another person, there are consequences to that,” Tanizaki said after the verdict.

Sharon Flournoy said she and her husband moved to Huntington Beach from Hollywood after the 1992 Los Angeles riots to get away from urban troubles. She said Vernon Flournoy was weakened by a heart attack and surgery a year before the attack.

Sharon Flournoy left the Santa Ana courthouse Tuesday sounding a bittersweet note.

“I still leave here a widow today. It doesn’t change anything in my life,” she said. “But I’m thankful that two defendants were caught and this case is solved.”