People v. Linton

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first degree murder, residential burglary, attempted rape, and a forcible lewd act on a child under the age of fourteen. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court, holding, inter alia, (1) the trial court did not prejudicially err in its guilt phase evidentiary rulings; (2) the trial court did not unfairly frustrate defense efforts to present a defense establishing Defendant was coerced into making false admissions and a confession; (3) the trial court did not err in failing to excuse a certain juror for misconduct; (4) the trial court did not deprive Defendant of his ability to present a penalty phase defense and to establish lingering doubt as a mitigating factor by refusing to allow Defendant to call certain witnesses and restricting certain testimony; (5) the trial court did not err in allowing the admission of photographs of the victim and testimony as victim impact evidence; (6) Defendant's claims of prosecutorial misconduct were either not preserved for appeal or meritless; and (7) California's death penalty is not unconstitutional. View "People v. Linton" on Justia Law