People v. Moya

[821]

GIBSON, C. J.

Defendant and Augustine Baldonado were indicted jointly with Elizabeth Duncan for the murder of her daughter-in-law, Olga Duncan. Defendant pleaded guilty to murder in the first degree, and, upon a trial by jury on the sole issue of penalty, his punishment was fixed at death. His motion for a new trial was denied, and the appeal comes to us automatically under subdivision (b) of section 1239 of the Penal Code.

1

A motion for a change of venue made by defendant on the ground that a fair and impartial trial could not be had in Ventura County was denied. In addition to the matters urged in

People

v.

Duncan, ante,

p. 803 [3 Cal.Rptr. 351, 350 P.2d 103], defendant relied on the assertedly adverse effect of the publicity given to the Duncan and Baldonado trials, which had preceded his own. We are of the opinion that he has not pointed to anything warranting a conclusion different from the one reached in the Duncan and Baldonado eases, where we held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to order a change of venue.

(People

v.

Duncan, ante,

p. 803;

People

v.

Baldonado, post,

p. 824 [3 Cal.Rptr. 363, 350 P.2d 115].)

Defendant, who was born in 1938 in San Angelo, Texas, was provided with a good home by his parents but was in trouble at an early age. He has used narcotics consistently since he was 11 years old. At 12, he was frequenting houses of prostitution and started on a course of criminal conduct which extended until the commission of the crime in question. His past offenses have included theft, burglary, possession and smuggling of narcotics, and stabbing a person with a knife. He served several terms in jail and at least one in the penitentiary. He was not a cooperative prisoner and made several attempts to escape. His work record was “very spotty,” and he had been ‘1 kept ’ ’ by various women. '