People v. Moore

Defendant pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to the charge of murdering one Huida Hoag. The jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree and fixed the penalty at death. Defendant withdrew his insanity plea and, after his motion for new trial had been denied, the death penalty was imposed. The appeal is automatic under section 1239, subdivision (b), of the Penal Code.

Mrs. Hoag was killed at some time between 8 and 11 o’clock on the evening of March 16, 1956. In the afternoon of that day defendant, a 33-year-old carnival worker, left a bar in San Bernardino with a…