People v. Bacon, S079179

Conviction and death sentence of defendant in murder-for-hire case affirmed

People v. Bacon, S079179, concerned a challenge to a defendant's conviction for first degree murder and other crimes, for the brutal murder of his co-defendant's estranged wife, and sentence of death.

The court affirmed both the convictions and the sentence on automatic appeal over various challenges including: 1) trial court's exclusion of a note written by defendant; 2) Miranda violation; 3) trial court's various jury instructions; 4) sufficiency of evidence for prior-murder special circumstance; 5) admission of handgun possession evidence under Penal Code section 190.3(b); 6) penalty phase prejudice from failure to suppress defendant's statements; 7) challenges to the death penalty law; and 9) cumulative effect of penalty phase errors.

Related Link:

• Read the California Supreme Court's Full Decision in People v. Bacon, S079179