California Court of Appeal

In a prosecution for two counts of first-degree murder, judgment denying defendant's motion to dismiss a 1973 murder count and his motion for trial severance is affirmed where: 1) although defendant was prejudiced by the delay in prosecuting the 1973 murder charge, the justification for pre-accusation delay outweighed the prejudice to defendant caused by the delay; and 2) the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to sever the counts for trial, since the evidence as to each count would have been cross-admissible in separate trials.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/28/2008
• Published 05/28/2008

Judges

• AARON, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• R. Clayton Seaman, Jr., under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant., Edmund G. Brown Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Lilia E. Garcia and Peter Quon, Jr., Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.