People v. Louis

*974Opinion

MOSK, J.

This is an automatic appeal (Pen. Code, § 1239, subd. (b)) from a judgment of death under the 1978 death penalty law (id., § 190.1 et seq.).

Charged with, among other offenses, murder with a special circumstance, defendant and his codefendants were tried before two separate juries. Virtually the same evidence was presented to each. The sole exception was the reading of the prior testimony of a prosecution witness whose credibility was indisputably minimal. Although known to be highly unreliable and likely to disappear, the witness was released from custody on his own…