People v. Griffin

Opinion

GEORGE, C. J.

Defendant Donald Griffin appeals from a judgment of the Fresno County Superior Court imposing a sentence of death (Pen. Code, § 190 et seq.). His appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).)

At the guilt phase of his initial trial, a jury found defendant guilty of the murder of Janice Kelly Wilson (Kelly), his 12-year-old stepdaughter, finding that he committed the murder under the special circumstances of felony-murder rape, felony-murder sodomy, and felony-murder lewd conduct, and also that he personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon, a knife. The jury also found…