People v. Nesler

Opinion

GEORGE, C. J.

In a Tuolumne County courtroom, during a break in Daniel Driver’s preliminary hearing on charges of sodomizing her seven-year-old son, defendant Ellena Starr Nesler shot and killed Driver. A jury found defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter with the use of a firearm, thereafter deciding that she was sane at the time of the commission of the offense. The Court of Appeal affirmed defendant’s conviction. We granted review to determine whether defendant was prejudiced by juror misconduct that occurred during the sanity phase of the trial. Because we determine that the…