Supreme Court of California

Order to show cause to the Department of Corrections regarding defendant's petition for habeas corpus relief on the grounds of jury misconduct during defendant's trial, which resulted in conviction of first degree murder and related charges and sentence of death, is discharged and relief denied, where: 1) the referee's finding that the juror's failures to disclose information in voir dire were neither intentional nor deliberate, supplies sufficient support for the ultimate conclusion that the juror was not biased against petitioner; 2) no substantial likelihood of bias exists where the referee concluded that the juror did not assert that defendant had previously committed uncharged murders; and 3) although the referee found that two jurors committed misconduct by watching the movie, American Me, and considered information about prison life contained in the movie, this did not establish a substantial likelihood of juror bias; and thus, any presumption of prejudice is rebutted by the record.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/30/2013
• Published 05/30/2013

Judges

• WERDEGAR

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel