Opinion ID: 2630185
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: bifurcated special circumstance trial

Text: As recounted, at the guilt phase the jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder and found true the robbery-murder special-circumstance allegation, but found untrue the allegation he personally used a firearm in the commission of the murder. Defendant then orally moved under People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 [84 Cal.Rptr. 156, 465 P.2d 44] and Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [45 L.Ed.2d 562, 95 S.Ct. 2525] to dismiss his appointed attorneys and to represent himself in the trial of the bifurcated prior-murder special circumstance and the penalty phase of trial. The court held a lengthy Marsden/Faretta hearing and subsequently stated on the record that defendant had clearly expressed his wishes to receive the death penalty, to call no witnesses, and to not confront or cross-examine any witnesses the prosecution called. The court granted defendant's request to represent himself, but placed his appointed attorneys on standby status. The case proceeded to a trial of the prior-murder special circumstance and then to the penalty phase. Defendant did not cross-examine prosecution witnesses or otherwise actively present a defense in the prior-murder special-circumstance trial or at the penalty phase, nor did he present any mitigating evidence or argument at the penalty phase.
The prosecution presented the testimony of a former investigating detective with the El Paso County, Texas, sheriff's department to establish that, on March 11, 1977, defendant had pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, the murder of Floyce Fox in El Paso County. A fingerprint expert testified that the fingerprints from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice matched defendant's fingerprints taken while he was in custody in California. Based on this evidence, the jury found true the allegation that defendant had previously been convicted of murder.