Supreme Court affirms death sentence for rape-torture-murder

The Supreme Court today affirms the death penalty in People v. Powell (Troy Lincoln).  The sentence was imposed after a jury convicted the defendant of first degree murder, rejecting an insanity defense, and made rape and torture special circumstances findings.  A second jury recommended death after the first jury hung on the issue.  The court’s unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye rejects numerous appellate arguments, including holding to be harmless any error in allowing evidence that the defendant was a white supremacist.