Curl v. Superior Court

Opinion

EAGLESON J.

We granted review in this case to settle the question of whether the constitutional validity of a prior murder conviction underlying a *1296prior-murder special circumstance may be collaterally attacked via a pretrial motion to strike the special circumstance, and to further determine the applicable standard of proof by which the invalidity of the prior conviction must be established in order to support the striking of the special circumstance.

We hold that in a capital prosecution, the defendant may challenge the constitutional validity of a prior murder conviction alleged as a…