People v. Trevino

Opinion

KENNARD, J.

In California, the penalty for first degree murder is either death or life imprisonment without possibility of parole if the prosecution proves one or more of the special circumstances specified in Penal Code section 190.2.1 (See People v. Bacigalupo (1993) 6 Cal.4th 457, 467-468 [24 Cal.Rptr.2d 808, 862 P.2d 808].) One of these special circumstances, commonly known as the prior-murder special circumstance, is that “[t]he defendant was convicted previously of murder in the first or second degree.” (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(2).) For this purpose, “an offense committed in another…