The Supreme Court today issues opinions in two direct death penalty appeals, reversing in one and affirming the other. Both decisions are unanimous.
The reversal comes in People v. Becerra. Possibly setting a brevity record for a death penalty case, the court’s 11-page opinion by Justice Carol Corrigan finds Faretta error, holding the trial court erroneously terminated the defendant’s right to self-representation.
People v. Clark is the opposite of Becerra, both in length and result. The court’s 162-page opinion by Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar affirms the death sentence, although it does reverse two of five special circumstance findings.
