Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/23/103.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 05:07:48+00:00

Document:
Quin Denvir, State Public Defender, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Charles M. Sevilla, Chief Assistant State Public Defender, and Donald L. A. Kerson, Deputy State Public Defender, for Defendant and Appellant.
Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, Jack R. Winkler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Daniel J. Kremer, Assistant Attorney General, Harley [23 Cal. 3d 108] D. Mayfield and Karl Phaler, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Defendant Gregory Teron, convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to die, comes before us on automatic appeal. [1a] After obtaining permission from the trial court to represent himself, defendant questioned no witnesses and presented neither evidence nor argument on his own behalf. Appointed appellate counsel now argues that the court erred in permitting defendant to represent himself. We conclude, however, that on the record before it the trial court properly ruled that defendant was competent to waive counsel and thus to represent himself. (See Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [45 L. Ed. 2d 562, 95 S. Ct. 2525].) A defendant is not obligated to present a vigorous defense; the decision to plead guilty, or simply not to oppose the prosecution case, is one which a competent defendant has a right to render.
[2a] We explain, however, that although the conviction for first degree murder must be affirmed, the judgment imposing the death penalty cannot stand. Defendant's crime occurred on October 4, 1975; yet the state seeks to impose the death penalty under a statute effective August 11, 1977. The Legislature, in enacting the 1977 statute, plainly intended to increase the penalty for first degree murder under particular circumstances. An established principle of statutory interpretation declares that a statute which increases the penalty for a crime should be construed to apply only to crimes committed after the effective date of the new legislation. Accordingly, we conclude that the 1977 statute does not apply to defendant's offense. In light of this conclusion, we have no occasion in the instant case to pass on the constitutional validity of the 1977 or 1978 death penalty legislation.
On April 7, 1978, defendant asked the court to relieve the public defender and to grant defendant permission to represent himself. Defendant offered to state the reasons for his request, but the court, advised by the public defender that the explanation might incriminate or prejudice defendant, declined to hear the explanation. Instead, the court interrogated defendant at length to determine that defendant's waiver of counsel was voluntary, knowing, and intelligent; the court explained at length the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation.
The interrogation revealed that defendant was literate, had been educated through sophomore year in high school, and was familiar with criminal proceedings from past experience. In response to questions, defendant demonstrated that he understood the distinction between manslaughter, second degree murder, and first degree murder, but that he did not understand the felony-murder rule. He affirmed, however, that despite the deficiencies in his legal knowledge, he still wanted to represent himself. The court inquired if defendant had ever suffered from mental illness or received treatment for psychiatric disability; defendant responded "no." Defendant then stated that "In the past, trials I've been involved in, I was never aware of the right that I could represent myself. ... Now that it has come to my attention, I'm able to do so, that is what I want to do."
The trial court expressly found that defendant "has made ... a voluntary and intelligent and understanding waiver of his right to be represented by counsel. I'm satisfied that the defendant is taking this action against the advice of this court, and he is fully advised and aware of the pitfalls, dangers and consequences of acting as his own attorney." The court then granted defendant a seven-day continuance to prepare for trial, and offered to appoint the public defender as standby counsel (see Faretta v. California, supra, 422 U.S. 806, 834-835, fn. 46 [45 L. Ed. 2d 562, 581]). The public defender declined the appointment, stating that "I don't feel that I could ethically have any participation in this case in view of the way the defendant wants to proceed."
On April 25, the day before trial was scheduled to begin, defendant waived trial by jury. The court took up the motion to suppress the tape recording of defendant's confession, filed earlier by the public defender; defendant stated that "whichever portions of that tape recording that [the prosecutor] wants to admit is perfectly fine with me."
Trial commenced on April 26. Prosecution witnesses testified that Reed, the victim, checked into the Caravan Inn in Anaheim at 9 p.m. on [23 Cal. 3d 110] October 3, 1975. Reed rented room 227; defendant occupied room 229 on a weekly basis. At about 3 a.m. a Mr. White, staying in room 228, heard a cry, "Help. They are killing me. This is murder." Although similar cries continued for about five minutes, he did not investigate the source of the noise.
The next morning, the maid who entered to make up room 227 discovered Reed's body. Police officers described the scene. The body was lying face down on the bed wrapped in the bedding. Reed's face was bruised and had been bleeding and several teeth were dislodged. The police observed bloodstains on the pillowcase and a towel. The room had been ransacked, and Reed's wallet was missing. An autopsy determined that Reed died from aspiration of blood caused by the extensive bleeding from his mouth and nose.
The prosecution then offered into evidence the tape recording of defendant's confession. After determining that the confession was voluntary, the court admitted the tape. In his confession, defendant stated that he spoke to Reed in the Caravan Inn parking lot, decided at that time to rob Reed, and to kill Reed so he could get away with the robbery. Early in the morning Reed invited him to his room for beer. By this time both Reed and defendant had been drinking, and Reed was drunk. Defendant went to Reed's bathroom and passed out briefly while sitting on the toilet. When defendant emerged from the bathroom, he demanded Reed's money. Reed refused, and defendant struck him several times in the face, forcing Reed back onto the bed. Defendant then tried to strangle Reed, but Reed resisted and began yelling. Defendant then smothered Reed with a pillow until Reed died. fn. 1 Defendant searched the room, taking Reed's wallet, which contained only $1.75, and three or four credit cards.
Police officers talked to defendant the next day, but made no arrest. Defendant promised to take a polygraph examination, but instead fled to Colorado. Two years later, following defendant's conviction for murders in Michigan, he waived extradition and was returned to California.
When the prosecution rested its case, the court inquired whether defendant desired to present evidence. He replied "no." The court then addressed him: "I think it would be wise of me to advise you that on the tape, you had indicated to Officer Johnson your state of intoxication on the night in question and your mental state on the occasion of the incident is important and relevant. Do you desire to present any evidence in that regard at this time?" Defendant replied "No, I do not." Following a brief argument by the prosecutor, to which defendant did not reply, the court found defendant guilty of first degree murder.
At the commencement of the penalty phase the defendant again waived right to counsel and to trial by jury. The court admitted evidence relating to the murder of Mrs. Maxham in Michigan. That evidence showed that in October 1976, a year after the Reed murder, defendant rented a room from Maxham. On October 17, he became enraged when she criticized the condition of the room, beat her unconscious, and hanged her from the bedpost until she died. Defendant then took Maxham's money and fled to Florida, where he was apprehended. Defendant's taped confession also admitted the killing of Crane, his cellmate in the Michigan prison, and hinted that he had killed at least two other persons, a woman in California and a man in North Carolina.
Despite the advice of the court, defendant presented no evidence or argument on penalty. The court's opinion reviewed the aggravating factors -- in particular the multiple murders and the lack of remorse -- and found no mitigating factors, since defendant had declined to introduce evidence on intoxication or mental illness. The court sentenced defendant [23 Cal. 3d 112] to death. The sentencing court certified the complete record on appeal on August 18, 1978.
[3, 4] On this automatic appeal, defendant is represented by counsel appointed by this court. Counsel raises only one significant issue relating to the guilt phase of the proceedings below; he contends that the court erred in permitting defendant to represent himself. fn. 3 With regard to the special circumstance and penalty phases, counsel raises a number of contentions: (1) that the court again erred in permitting defendant to represent himself; (2) that the 1977 death penalty statute does not apply to antecedent crimes; (3) that application of the 1977 statute to defendant's crime would violate the ex post facto and equal protection clauses of the state and federal Constitutions; (4) that the death penalty provision of the 1977 statute violates the state constitutional provision prohibiting cruel or unusual punishment (Cal. Const., art. I, § 17); and (5) that the failure of the California statutes to grant appellate courts discretion to reduce death sentences to life imprisonment violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. As we shall explain, we agree with counsel that the 1977 statute does not apply to a crime committed in 1975; that conclusion makes it unnecessary to consider defendant's other contentions relating to the special circumstance and penalty trials.
[1b] 2. The guilt phase: the court did not err in permitting defendant to represent himself at the guilt trial.
In maintaining that the court nevertheless erred in permitting defendant to represent himself, the state public defender raises two contentions.  First, he argues that the court should not have granted defendant's motion without a psychiatric evaluation of defendant. We agree with the Court of Appeal's observation in People v. Lopez, supra, 71 Cal. App. 3d 568, 573, that: "If there is any question in the court's mind as to a defendant's mental capacity it would appear obvious that a rather careful inquiry into that subject should be made -- probably by way of a psychiatric examination. It would be a trifle embarassing to get half way through a trial only to discover that a court has determined that a mentally deficient or seriously mentally ill person has been allowed to make a 'knowing and intelligent' decision to represent himself."
[2b] 3. The 1977 death penalty legislation does not apply to impose a death penalty for crimes committed before the effective date of that legislation.
In 1973, the California Legislature enacted a statute imposing a mandatory death penalty for first degree murder whenever the trier of fact found that any one of a number of designated "special circumstances" was present; one of the special circumstances enumerated in the 1973 legislation embodied cases in which the defendant personally committed the acts causing death and in any prior proceeding had been convicted of murder. (Stats. 1973, ch. 719, § 5, p. 1300.) The 1973 statute was in effect on October 4, 1975, the date of the murder of Earl Reed. On December 7, 1976, however, under compulsion of intervening decisions of the United States Supreme Court, fn. 8 we held that the procedures for imposition of the death penalty embodied in the 1973 legislation violated the United States Constitution. (Rockwell v. Superior Court (1976) 18 Cal. 3d 420 [134 Cal. Rptr. 650, 556 P.2d 1101].) Thus, when the state first [23 Cal. 3d 116] filed charges against defendant in April of 1977, the State of California had no constitutional statute imposing the death penalty for the crime of which defendant was accused.
After the 1977 legislation became effective, the district attorney sought, and the grand jury returned, an indictment against defendant under the new death penalty law. Although defense counsel, prior to his removal at defendant's request, objected that the 1977 statute could not properly be applied to a 1975 crime, the trial court rejected the objections. Following the procedures and substantive provisions of the 1977 law, the court imposed a sentence of death.
As we explain, we have concluded that the trial court erred in applying the 1977 statute to a crime committed before the effective date of that enactment.
[2c] In the instant case, the Legislature, in enacting the 1977 legislation, undoubtedly intended to increase the punishment for first degree murder committed under particular circumstances. As we have seen, prior to that enactment no constitutional death penalty statute in California generally applied to cases of first degree murder. The Legislature, in considering the measure, debated both the wisdom and morality of imposing the death penalty in any circumstance as well as the question of which particular "special circumstances" were sufficiently grave to permit the imposition of death as a sanction. In enacting the measure, the Legislature unquestionably believed that it was increasing the punishment that could be imposed on persons committing the crimes enumerated in the statute. Indeed, the Legislature specifically enacted the statute as an urgency measure because of its professed belief that the increased sanctions permitted by the new law were necessary for the immediate protection of the public. Consequently, the principle that statutes which increase the punishment for crime will be construed to apply only to crimes committed after their enactment governs the interpretation of the 1977 legislation, and precludes its retroactive application.
[2d] We recognize that in Dobbert v. Florida (1977) 432 U.S. 282 [53 L. Ed. 2d 344, 97 S. Ct. 2290], a majority of the United States Supreme Court indicated that, for purposes of the ex post facto clause of the federal Constitution, a Florida statute in some respects similar to the 1977 California legislation could be considered a "procedural" or "ameliorative" enactment. In Dobbert, however, the Supreme Court was not faced with the question -- as we are today -- of whether, as a matter of statutory interpretation, a penal measure should be interpreted to apply to offenses committed prior to the effective date of the legislation. In Dobbert, at the time the case reached the United States Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court had already determined that as a matter of state law the subsequent legislation applied to Dobbert's previously committed offense (Dobbert v. State (Fla. 1976) 328 So.2d 433). Thus, the United States Supreme Court was concerned only with the constitutionality under the federal ex post facto clause of that retroactive application. We are not apprised of what circumstances led the Florida court to its conclusion, but, for the reasons discussed above, we are convinced that the 1977 [23 Cal. 3d 119] California legislation was intended to increase the available criminal punishment with respect to the "special circumstances" enumerated in the enactment. Consequently, the United States Supreme Court's decision in Dobbert is inapposite to the present matter.
In light of our conclusion that the 1977 death penalty legislation is not applicable to the instant case, we, of course, have no occasion to pass on the constitutional validity of that or any subsequent legislation.
The judgment against defendant is modified to provide for a sentence of life imprisonment and, as so modified, is affirmed.
It is argued that section 3 must be interpreted in accordance with our reasoning in In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal. 2d 740, 746 [48 Cal. Rptr. 172, 408 P.2d 908], and in In re Marriage of Bouquet (1976) 16 Cal. 3d 583, 587-588 [128 Cal. Rptr. 427, 546 P.2d 1371]. While it is true that Estrada (a conviction for escape without force or violence after conviction of being under the influence of narcotics, a misdemeanor) and Bouquet (a marriage dissolution case involving the nature of earnings and accumulations of a husband after separation from his wife) have some application, in my opinion a death penalty case is unique in the law. It is sui generis. In a capital case broad abstract principles lifted from other contexts have less persuasive force. This is because the ultimate punishment, of course, is fixed, final and irrevocable permitting no margin for error. I find no provision of the 1977 death penalty law which "expressly" declares that it is to be given retroactive effect.
Focusing on the intent of the Legislature, therefore, I conclude that it is not clear that the Legislature by providing that the death penalty law was to "go into immediate effect" means that the law was to apply to crimes previously committed.
The holding in this case affects only a limited number of persons, namely, those whose offenses were committed before August 11, 1977, the [23 Cal. 3d 121] effective date of the 1977 death penalty legislation. The constitutionality of the 1977 law is not before us.
The majority make the following argument for refusing to uphold the trial court's judgment imposing the death penalty upon defendant.
While the Legislature is presumed to intend an amendatory statute mitigating or reducing punishment be applied retroactively, the Legislature is presumed to intend an amendatory statute increasing punishment be applied only prospectively. (See, e.g., In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal. 2d 740 [48 Cal. Rptr. 172, 408 P.2d 908].) The majority contend the 1977 statute increased the punishment for defendant's crime. Therefore, they reason, the Legislature must be presumed to have intended the statute be limited to future application.
The flaw in the majority's argument is that the 1977 statute does not increase the punishment, but rather mitigates the penalty for defendant's crime. Defendant's crime is first degree murder by one having personally committed the acts causing death and having "been convicted in a prior proceeding of the offense of murder of the first or second degree." (Pen. Code, § 190.2.) In 1975, when defendant committed the crime, it was punishable by a mandatory penalty of death. (Former § 190.2, added by Stats. 1973, ch. 719, § 5, and repealed by Stats. 1977, ch. 316, § 8.) The 1977 statute mitigated the punishment for defendant's crime by providing for life imprisonment without possibility of parole as an alternative to the previously mandatory death penalty. (§ 190.2, added by Stats. 1977, ch. 316, § 9.) Therefore, we must presume the Legislature intended the 1977 statute to apply retroactively.
In criminal cases generally, but in death penalty cases especially, we have tended to lose sight of the "evils to be remedied" by the challenged legislation. In order to faithfully implement the intent of the Legislature [23 Cal. 3d 122] in this case, we must remind ourselves of the evil to be remedied by a death penalty statute. There is no better way of doing so than by review of the facts of this case.
In 1975, in Anaheim, defendant brutally murdered Earl Reed for $1.75. Reed choked on his own blood after defendant first beat and then smothered him. When defendant went to Reed's room that night he intended, by his own admission, to rob Reed and then murder him "just so I could get away with" the robbery. Defendant had, he admitted, no other motive for killing Reed.
In 1977, prior to defendant's trial for the Reed murder, defendant was convicted of two other murders in Michigan. One of his Michigan victims was Norma Maxham, a 75-year-old woman from whom he rented a room. When Mrs. Maxham asked defendant to move out of the room he beat her until she was unconscious, tore off her clothes, bound her with electrical cord and hanged her by the neck. After waiting until he was certain of his victim's death, defendant left the house to buy pizza and beer. He returned to the room and, in the presence of the still hanging corpse, ate the pizza, drank the beer, took a shower and watched a football game on television.
While in jail in Michigan awaiting trial for the Maxham murder, defendant hanged a fellow inmate.
Defendant admits having committed at least two other murders, but states he has no idea of the total number of persons he has killed. He explains his incomplete recall by comparing the act of murder to drinking a cup of coffee. A month from now, defendant notes, one is not likely to remember having drunk a cup of coffee today.
Defendant claims he can easily make a knife while in jail, and will knife a guard if given the opportunity. Nothing the prison officials can do will deter him, defendant insists. If released from jail, defendant intends to return to his "everyday type of life."
A review of the recent history of death penalty legislation in California reveals the utter absurdity of the majority's conclusion.
In response to Rockwell, the Legislature passed and sent to the Governor Senate Bill No. 155 (Stats. 1977, ch. 316) remedying the procedural defects in the prior legislation. The bill was vetoed by the Governor on 27 May 1977, but the veto was overridden and the statute was filed and became effective on 11 August 1977.
A postscript to this history of California's long struggle to protect its citizens with an operative death penalty was provided by the General Election of 7 November 1978. Proposition 7, an initiative measure extending the death penalty to other categories of first degree murder, [23 Cal. 3d 125] was approved by 72 percent of the voters, an even more overwhelming majority than nullified Anderson by approving Proposition 17.
To draw from the historical record the conclusion that the Legislature in enacting the 1977 statute intended to repeal the death penalty as to crimes committed prior to the effective date of the amendatory legislation is, again, utterly absurd.
The applicable principles of statutory construction certainly do not suggest such a conclusion. As the majority note, section 3 of the Penal Code states that no provision of the code "is retroactive, unless expressly so declared." However, as this court made clear in In re Estrada, supra, 63 Cal. 2d 740, 746: "That section simply embodies the general rule of construction, coming to us from the common law, that when there is nothing to indicate a contrary intent in a statute it will be presumed that the Legislature intended the statute to operate prospectively and not retroactively. That rule of construction, however, is not a straitjacket. Where the Legislature has not set forth in so many words what it intended, the rule of construction should not be followed blindly in complete disregard of factors that may give a clue to the legislative intent. It is to be applied only after, considering all pertinent factors, it is determined that it is impossible to ascertain the legislative intent."
As noted previously, in Marriage of Bouquet this court stated: "Consistent with Estrada's mandate, we must address 'all pertinent factors' when attempting to divine the legislative purpose. A wide variety [23 Cal. 3d 126] of factors may illuminate the legislative design, 'such as context, the object in view, the evils to be remedied, the history of the times and of legislation upon the same subject, public policy, and contemporaneous construction.'" (In re Marriage of Bouquet, supra, 16 Cal.3d at pp. 587-588, quoting Alford v. Pierno, supra, 27 Cal.App.3d at p. 688.) Consideration of many of these factors has already been shown to lead inescapably to the conclusion that the Legislature intended the 1977 death penalty statute to have retroactive effect. Another factor leading to the same conclusion was discussed in Bouquet: the presumption that an amendment to cure constitutional defects in a statute is intended to apply retroactively.
The majority seek to distinguish Bouquet on two grounds. First, they note that "the fundamental principle of statutory construction, embodied in Penal Code section 3, which negates any retroactive operation of new penal sanctions was not applicable in that case" because it involved a civil statute governing the property rights of married, but separated, persons. (Ante, p. 118, fn. 9.) This distinction clearly fails in light of section 3 of the Civil Code, the word-for-word counterpart of section 3 of the Penal Code, which provides that no part of the Civil Code "is retroactive, unless expressly so declared."
What the majority are saying, in effect, is that life imprisonment with possibility of parole affords Californians adequate protection from men like Gregory Teron. But Californians disagree. As previously stated, the Legislature expressly declared the 1977 statute "must take effect immediately in order to guarantee the public the protection inherent in an operative death penalty law." When this court declared capital punishment unconstitutional in Anderson, the people directly nullified that decision by approving Proposition 17. When intervening decisions of the United States Supreme Court indicated the probable invalidity of the existing statute under the federal Constitution, the Legislature enacted the 1973 death penalty statute. When that statute was declared unconstitutional in Rockwell, the Legislature enacted the 1977 statute. Finally, not entirely satisfied with the extent of the protection afforded them by the 1977 statute, the people last year approved Proposition 7.
We now return to the principle of statutory construction with which we began this discussion: While the Legislature is presumed to intend an amendatory statute mitigating or reducing punishment be applied retroactively, the Legislature is presumed to intend an amendatory statute increasing punishment be applied only prospectively.
We ask ourselves, therefore, the following question: Did the Legislature have reason to believe the 1977 statute increased the punishment for defendant's crime within the meaning of the ex post facto clause?
The Dobbert opinion deserves further attention because it so clearly exposes the flaw in the majority's argument. The majority recognize that while the 1973 statute provided a mandatory death penalty for defendant's crime, the 1977 statute made his crime punishable by death or life imprisonment without possibility of parole, depending upon consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. They nevertheless conclude that the 1977 statute increased the penalty for defendant's offense. This conclusion is based on the assumption that, the 1973 statute having been declared unconstitutional in 1976, no death penalty was in effect for purposes of ex post facto analysis when defendant committed his crime in 1975. Such an analysis was rejected in Dobbert as a "sophistic argument [which] mocks the substance of the Ex Post Facto Clause."
"Petitioner's second ex post facto claim is based on the contention that at the time he murdered his children there was no death penalty 'in effect' in Florida. This is so, he contends, because the earlier statute enacted by the legislature was, after the time he acted, found by the Supreme Court of Florida to be invalid under our decision in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). Therefore, argues petitioner, there was no 'valid' death penalty in effect in Florida as of the date of his actions. But this sophistic argument mocks the substance of the Ex Post Facto Clause. Whether or not the old statute would, in the future, withstand constitutional attack, it clearly indicated Florida's view of the severity of murder and of the degree of punishment which the legislature wished to impose upon murderers. The statute was intended to provide maximum deterrence, and its existence on the statute books provided fair warning as to the degree of culpability which the State ascribed to the act of murder.
The citizens of California sent this court a message in 1972 when they nullified Anderson by approving Proposition 17. By amending our charter to provide that the death penalty does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment or "contravene any other provision of this constitution," our people indicated with unmistakable clarity that they consider capital punishment necessary to their safety and well being, and that this court is not to thwart their will in this regard. We cannot ignore that message without forfeiting their confidence.
The judgment convicting defendant of first degree murder and imposing the penalty of death should be affirmed without modification.
FN 1. Defendant's confession is not inconsistent with the autopsy report. As the pathologist testified, by placing a pillow over Reed's face defendant could have blocked the exit of blood from the wounds in Reed's mouth, thus in effect drowning Reed in his own blood.
FN 2. Defendant's appointed counsel in the trial court in a pretrial motion contended that the charged special circumstance should not apply to defendant because the alleged prior convictions referred to the two Michigan murders which were committed subsequent to the California murder. Defense counsel on appeal did not renew that contention, and in view of our disposition of this appeal it is not necessary for us to resolve it today.
FN 3. Defense counsel raises two other contentions which relate to the guilt trial. First, he argues that the state's delay in bringing defendant to trial denied him due process of law. He notes that defendant first confessed to the Reed murder in December of 1976, but was not brought to California until January of 1978 and not tried until April 1978; the 1977 death penalty legislation took effect on August 11, 1977. Most of the delay, however, occurred while defendant was awaiting or undergoing trial in Michigan for two murders committed there. It is doubtful that Michigan would have agreed to turn defendant over to California until its own proceedings had terminated. Under these circumstances, we believe the delay prior to September 29, 1977, when defendant was convicted of the Michigan murders, was reasonable; the three-month further delay following the Michigan convictions did not prejudice defendant.
Defendant also argues that he was entitled to a postindictment preliminary hearing. Although Hawkins v. Superior Court (1978) 22 Cal. 3d 584 [150 Cal. Rptr. 435, 586 P.2d 916], granted an indicted defendant a right to a preliminary hearing, our opinion expressly stated that "the rule announced herein shall apply only to the present case and to those indicted defendants who have not entered a plea at the time this opinion becomes final." (22 Cal.3d at p. 594.) Since defendant Teron entered his plea before the Hawkins opinion became final, he cannot take advantage of our ruling in that case.
FN 4. The California decisions interpreting Faretta are reviewed in Yegan, Faretta -- The California Experience (1978) 53 State Bar J. 384.
FN 5. Defendant's confession suggested that after committing the Reed and Maxham murders he may have attempted sexual acts upon the victims' bodies and then urinated on or in the vicinity of the bodies.
FN 6. A closer question is whether the trial judge should have perceived indicia of mental incapacity before the close of the guilt trial and suspended proceedings to permit a psychiatric examination of defendant. The trial court, during the guilt trial, heard defendant's confession, which included discussion of defendant's peculiar conduct in connection with the murders, even though it did not admit much of the confession into evidence until the penalty trial. Thus when the prosecution rested its case at the guilt trial the court had some reason to suspect defendant's mental capacity, and would have acted within its discretion in requiring a psychiatric examination. We do not, however, believe the evidence of mental incapacity so compelling that the court's failure to interrupt proceedings to order such an examination rises to the level of an abuse of discretion.
In view of our determination that no valid death penalty statute applied to defendant's 1975 crime, we need not decide whether the court erred in permitting self-representation at the special circumstance or penalty trials.
FN 8. See Gregg v. Georgia (1976) 428 U.S. 153 [49 L. Ed. 2d 859, 96 S. Ct. 2909]; Proffitt v. Florida (1976) 428 U.S. 242 [49 L. Ed. 2d 913, 96 S. Ct. 2960]; Jurek v. Texas (1976) 428 U.S. 262 [49 L. Ed. 2d 929, 96 S. Ct. 2950]; Woodson v. North Carolina (1976) 428 U.S. 280 [49 L. Ed. 2d 944, 96 S. Ct. 2978]; Roberts v. Louisiana (1976) 428 U.S. 325 [49 L. Ed. 2d 974, 96 S. Ct. 3001].
Bouquet is clearly distinguishable from the present case on a number of grounds. First, and most significantly, Bouquet did not involve a penal a statute that imposed new and additional sanctions pursuant to new provisions; rather, it involved a statute concerned simply with the adjustment of property rights between married, but separated, persons. Thus, the fundamental principle of statutory construction, embodied in Penal Code section 3, which negates any retroactive operation of new penal sanctions was not applicable in that case.
Furthermore, Bouquet presented the court with only two alternatives: to apply the former, probably unconstitutional law or to apply the amended, constitutional law. In such a case, our court could reasonably infer that the Legislature intended the latter to apply. In the case at bar however, the inapplicability of the 1977 law does not leave the state with no criminal sanctions against defendant. Defendant, like all other persons who committed first degree murder prior to the enactment of the 1977 legislation, is subject to a sentence of life imprisonment as provided by the criminal statutes in effect at the time of the commission of the offense.
FN 1. Section 27, added to article I of the Constitution by Proposition 17, provides: "All statutes of this state in effect on February 17, 1972, requiring, authorizing, imposing, or relating to the death penalty are in full force and effect, subject to legislative amendment or repeal by statute, initiative or referendum. [¶] The death penalty, provided for under those statutes shall not be deemed to be, or to constitute, the infliction of cruel or unusual punishments within the meaning of Article I, Section 6 nor shall such punishment for such offenses be deemed to contravene any other provision of this constitution."
FN 2. My discussion has throughout been limited to the "special circumstances" involved in defendant's crime. The 1977 statute added two other special circumstances not covered by the earlier legislation: (1) Willful, deliberate and premeditated murder perpetrated by means of a destructive device or explosive. (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (b).) (2) Willful, deliberate and premeditated murder involving infliction of torture. (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (c)(4).) Whether the Legislature intended either of these provisions to have retroactive effect is a question not before us, and as to which I express no opinion.

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