People v. Zielesch, No. C059872

Conviction of defendant for first degree murder of a CHP officer, conspiracy to commit murder of his wife's boyfriend, and other crimes is affirmed where: 1) defendant's claim that his murder conviction must be reversed because the shooting of the officer was not in furtherance of the conspiracy to kill his wife's boyfriend and "was both unforeseen and unforeseeable" fails as the jury's finding of both the conspiracy and murder is supported by substantial evidence; and 2) defendant's claim that the entire judgment must be reversed because he was denied his right to a fair trial when the judge allowed courtroom spectators to wear buttons displaying a color photograph of the officer for six days at the start of the trial are rejected also fails, as the wearing of the buttons presented no probability of deleterious effects on defendant's right to a fair trial. 

Read People v. Zielesch, No. C059872 [HTML]

Read People v. Zielesch, No. C059872 [PDF]

Filed November 23, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Scotland

Counsel
For Appellant:    Stephen Gilbert

For Appellee:  Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Catherine Chatman, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Clara M. Levers, Deputy Attorney General