People v. Croce

Upon the plea of guilty to an indictment charging the defendant with murder, the trial court, upon a hearing conducted for the purpose of fixing the punishment which the defendant should suffer, determined that he was guilty of murder in the first degree and adjudged that as the penalty therefor he should suffer death. (See. 190, Pen. Code.)

Three grounds of appeal are presented: First, that the judgment is not sustained by the evidence; second, that the finding that the defendant was guilty of murder in the first degree is not sustained by the evidence; third, that the court erred in denying…