People v. Weidert

Opinion

BIRD, C. J.

The principal issue presented by this case is whether an individual who intentionally kills a witness for the purpose of preventing his or her testimony in a juvenile proceeding is subject to the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under the 1978 Briggs Initiative.

I

On June 18, 1980, the office of Dr. David Joseph Edwards was burglarized. Dr. Edwards undertook his own investigation and focused upon the employees of the janitorial service he had engaged around the time of the burglary. The investigation prompted Michael Morganti to confess his…