People v. Hamilton

Opinion

MOSK, J.

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

Defendant was convicted in three counts of the first degree murders of Josephine Rocha, Douglas White, and Bryon Schletewitz (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189), in one count of the attempted robbery of Schletewitz (id., §§ 211, 664), and in two counts of assault with a deadly weapon against Joe Rios and Jack Abbott (id., § 245, subd. (a)). As to each murder count, three *131special circumstances were found true: felony murder-robbery (id., §…