People v. Hernandez

Opinion

MOSK, J.

In this matter, defendant pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to murder and other offenses committed over a seven-hour period. The jury found him guilty of murder and all but one of the other offenses but failed to reach a unanimous verdict on insanity, and the superior court declared a mistrial. A second jury reached a unanimous verdict of insanity with regard to some, but not all, of the offenses. As to those remaining offenses, the superior court dismissed the sanity proceedings under Penal Code section 1385, subdivision (a), on the basis of its…