People v. Kipp

Opinion

KENNARD, J.

This appeal by defendant Martin James Kipp from a judgment of death comes to this court automatically. (Pen. Code, § 1239, subd. (b); all further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated.) A jury convicted defendant of one count of first degree murder (§ 187) with the special circumstance that the murder was committed during an attempted rape (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(iii)). The same jury also convicted defendant of one count of attempted rape by force (§§ 261, subd. (a)(2), 664), and it returned a penalty verdict of death for the first degree murder…