Supreme Court of California

Conviction and sentence in a death penalty case is vacated as to a torture-murder special-circumstance finding, which was supported by insufficient evidence, but otherwise affirmed on automatic appeal over claims of error regarding: 1) denial of continuance requests and removal of the public defender as counsel; 2) the appointment of another attorney; 3) denial of a Marsden motion; 4) admission of evidence; 5) jury instructions; 6) denial of an automatic application to modify the verdict; 7) the constitutionality of the death penalty; 8) international law; and 9) cumulative error.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/15/2008
• Published 08/15/2008

Judges

• KENNARD, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Michael J. Hersek, State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, and Jeffrey Gale, Deputy State Public Defender, for Defendant and Appellant., Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, William M. Wood and Lise Jacobson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.