), The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed The California Constitution declares that Trial by jury is an inviolate right and shall be secured to all (Cal. The email address cannot be subscribed. 630, 774 P.2d 659, defendant is entitled to relief only if he can actually show that his right to an impartial jury was affected because he was deprived of a peremptory challenge which he would have used to excuse a juror who sat on his case. Unless, in addition to exhausting his peremptory challenges, the defendant expresses dissatisfaction with the jury ultimately selected, we cannot know whether the earlier denial of the challenge for cause deprived the defendant of a peremptory challenge that he or she would have used to excuse a juror who sat on his case. Police found a sliding glass door had been pried open. (People v. Panah, supra, 35 Cal.4th 395, 448, 25 Cal.Rptr.3d 672, 107 P.3d 790; People v. Jenkins, supra, 22 Cal.4th 900, 944, 95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044. 3. She said, please don't shoot me again and he lowered the gun and ran away. A restraining device similar to handcuffs that attach to the subject's thumbs. At the time of trial, former Code of Civil Procedure section 197 provided: It is the policy of the State of California that all persons selected for jury service shall be selected at random from a fair cross section of the population of the area served by the court (Stats.1980, ch. Also Read: 'American Horror Story: 1984' Star Zach Villa on What the Night Stalker Wants With Brooke (Video). No, he does not look the same. Trial counsel could have respectfully disagreed and asked the court to rule on his request but, instead, withdrew the proposed instruction, thus forfeiting this issue. Duenas grabbed a telephone to call the police and returned to the balcony. Whether a further inquiry was appropriate is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court, which was in the best position to observe the jury. Plot. The Court: To the court inquiry as to the extent of your contract, does it cover through the preliminary hearing? Joseph Duenas was in his second-floor apartment when he heard a woman scream help me. He went onto his balcony and saw Yu struggling with a man near the curb. WebVincent Zazzara Richard Ramirez Maxine Levenia Tedder Zazzara at Find a Grave. The trial court, therefore, did not abuse its discretion in discharging the juror. Subsequent analysis revealed that a 25-caliber bullet recovered from the victim's head had been fired from the same gun that fired bullets recovered from the home of Virginia and Christopher Petersen. Defendant relies upon section 669, which states, in pertinent part: Whenever a person is committed to prison on a life sentence which is ordered to run consecutive to any determinate term of imprisonment, the determinate term of imprisonment shall be served first Although recognizing that the death sentence imposed here was not a life term, defendant argues that it was the functional equivalent of a life sentence in that appellant was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.. ] (People v. Taylor (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1155, 1180, 113 Cal.Rptr.2d 827, 34 P.3d 937; People v. Earp (1999) 20 Cal.4th 826, 899, 85 Cal.Rptr.2d 857, 978 P.2d 15. All rights reserved. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. As the four-part test is stated in the conjunctive, joinder may be appropriate even though the evidence is not cross-admissible (People v. Ochoa (2001) 26 Cal.4th 398, 423, 110 Cal.Rptr.2d 324, 28 P.3d 78.). The door closed behind him and Hernandez opened the garage door and ran outside. Const., art. The defense focused on the lack of physical evidence tying defendant to the charged crimes, attacked the reliability of the identifications of defendant, and offered the alibi that defendant was in Texas when the crimes against Mabel Bell, Florence L., and Carol K. were committed. Defendant tied up her eight-year-old son and hit him. 191, 800 P.2d 547, defendant argues that the trial court violated its positive, sua sponte duty under the Sixth Amendment of the federal Constitution and article I, section 15 of the California Constitution to ensure that appellant would be represented by qualified, effective counsel by granting defendant's request to substitute counsel. According to defendant, this led the jury to treat the absence of mitigation as aggravation. If defendant believed the pattern instruction was unclear, he had the obligation to request clarifying language. (People v. Rodrigues (1994) 8 Cal.4th 1060, 1192, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 235, 885 P.2d 1.) Do you understand the court is ordering you [to] do that? Contrary to defendant's assertion, the trial court in the present case did not find that Daniel Hernandez and Arturo Hernandez were unqualified to be retained as counsel by defendant. Books and papers were strewn around the room. In that case, the trial court modified the standard jury instruction regarding consciousness of guilt to read, in part: Now, evidence, if there was any in this case, that the defense attempted to suppress any evidence could show a consciousness of guilt. 1, 38 Cal.Rptr.2d 394, 889 P.2d 588. The police arrived and found Cannon lying dead on the bed. When the door to the condominium closed behind defendant, Hernandez opened the garage door and fled. On September 3, 1985, a felony complaint was filed against defendant and the public defender was appointed as counsel. Do you understand that possibility does exi[s]t? In response to the court's question, Daniel Hernandez confirmed that he had done extensive work interviewing potential witnesses in El Paso, and had located witnesses who are willing to come forth, but explained that the defense had decided not to present these witnesses. An ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. She is also involved with the Bill Evans Piano Academy in At the time, Code of Civil Procedure section 203 provided that no juror shall be required to serve at a distance greater than 20 miles from his or her residence. (Stats.1980, ch. In order to establish a prima facie violation of the fair-cross-section requirement, the defendant must show (1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a distinctive group in the community; (2) that the representation of this group in venires from which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community; and (3) that this underrepresentation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process. (Duren, supra, 439 U.S. at p. 364, 99 S.Ct. ] [Citation. This contention is meritless. After the jury had been selected and sworn, Prospective Juror Robert D. was examined for selection as an alternate juror. We are all expendable for a cause, and no one knows that better than those who kill for policy, clandestinely or openly, as do the governments of the world which kill in the name of God and country and for whatever else they deem appropriate. Maxine L. Zazzara, Downey, Cal., argued, for defendant-appellant. (Compare Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966) 384 U.S. 333, 86 S.Ct. It also would be useful just in general to indicate the manner or method of death The court later added that although they are not pleasant to look at, they are relevant and as non-inflammatory as possible. The court, sua sponte, then gave the jury a cautionary instruction: Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to have some photographs given to you for your examination of the scene at the Zazzara household. 720, 807 P.2d 949, disapproved on other grounds in People v. Stansbury (1995) 9 Cal.4th 824, 830, fn. Defendant's objection to the 1987-1988 master list was rendered moot, because that list was not used to summon the jurors in the present case. Whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the challenged photographs of the murder victims depends upon two factors: (1) whether the photographs were relevant, and (2) whether the trial court abused its discretion in determining that the probative value of each photograph outweighed its prejudicial effect. Defendant took Carol K. to her bedroom, put the gun to her head and threatened to kill her, then tied her hands behind her with a pair of pantyhose. ), As also noted above (ante, 46 Cal.Rptr.3d at p. 704, 139 P.3d at p. 87), defendant's behavior did not raise a question as to his ability to understand the nature of the proceedings or assist counsel in his defense. A pentagram is A five-pointed figure formed by producing the sides of a pentagon both ways to their points of intersection, so as to form a five-pointed star Formerly used as a mystic symbol and credited with magical virtues. (11 Oxford English Dict. 1692 [If a district court agrees to the multiple representation, and the advocacy of counsel is thereafter impaired as a result, the defendant may well claim that he did not receive effective assistance].) Defendant expressly does not claim on appeal that counsel were ineffective, noting that [a] claim of ineffective assistance of counsel will be separately presented in a related petition for writ of habeas corpus.. Failure to Narrow Class of Death-eligible Defendants, Defendant contends that the death penalty statute applicable in this case failed to meaningfully narrow the class of defendants eligible for the death penalty, in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal Constitution. Defendant has presented no persuasive reason to reconsider our previous holdings. The car was running with the transmission in reverse. The prosecution conceded that the two charges related to Higgins were not properly joined and the court granted the prosecution's motion to dismiss those charges. Using the area within a 20-mile radius of the courthouse as the relevant community, the trial court ruled that the absolute disparity of 3.5 percent, which translated to a relative disparity of 20 percent, was not constitutionally significant. Defendant used his blood to draw a pentagram on the floor and write the number 666. (Ante, 46 Cal.Rptr.3d at pp. The defendant in Mickens claimed he had been denied effective assistance of counsel because his appointed attorney earlier had represented the murder victim on a juvenile matter. Another victim, Florence Nettie Lang, 81, was beaten to death with a hammer. Linda Doi-Fick, the daughter of William and Yuriko Doi, later identified several items of property that had been taken from her parents' home, including her mother's wallet and pieces of jewelry, which had been recovered from Felipe Solano, who had purchased the items from defendant.