People v. Cornett

Defendant was charged with the murder of Fred Weaver Cole, the stepfather of his divorced wife. A jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree and made no recommendation as to penalty. The trial court denied his motion for a new trial and sentenced him to death. This is an automatic appeal from the judgment imposing the death penalty. (Pen. Code, § 1239 (b).)

The circumstances of the homicide, according to the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, were: At the time of the homicide defendant, a pipe yard worker, was living with his divorced wife, Pauline Cornett, and their…