People V Wharton

53 Cal. 3d 522 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Law enforcement officers found the body of Smith inside a large cardboard barrel in the kitchen. They removed the body for autopsy and searched the apartment. They found empty prescription drug bottles and a notepad with a note that began, 'Dear Dr. Hamilton.' While most of the bottles bore the victim's name, one bore D's name. Police found a toolbox in the garage. Smith had been struck three times on the head with a blunt instrument, probably a hammer. The pathologist could not pinpoint the time of death but opined it was probably 10 to 14 days earlier. When the police located D he fled but was found hiding under a truck. D waived his Miranda rights. D stated that he lived with Smith and has spent the night of February 26th with her in their home. D admitted that they argued and that he killed her. D had been drinking heavily and she threw a book at him and he hit her twice in the head. She may have hit her head on a table, but he was not sure. D was mentally aware he was hitting her but stated that he was in a rage. D realized she was dead. He began writing a letter to his psychotherapist, Dr. Hamilton, and then took several pills and lay down beside the body. He tried to kill himself but that filed so he began moving the body from room to room. D lit a fire in the fireplace and brought the body into the room to keep her 'warm.' D also held the body to his own. He wrapped the body in blankets and plastic bags and placed it in the barrel. During interrogation, D taunted the officers to 'Do some detective work' to find out what happened. Leighton Smith, the victim's ex-husband, found a hammer underneath a bed while he was sorting through Smith's belongings. He noticed that many of her possessions were missing, including coins, furs, jewelry, china, a television, a camera, a microwave oven, and a stereo. P presented evidence of D’s prior felony convictions. D had raped 61-year-old Jane B. by putting a knife on her throat and robbing her money, a small radio, and a camera. D also admitted killing Robert Pierce after the latter solicited a homosexual act from him. D took Pierce's watch. P presented evidence that to buy cocaine, D sold Smith's property possibly before and after her death. The evidence suggested that D falsely claimed that the items went burglarized. P presented evidence of D’s prior felony convictions. D had raped 61-year-old Jane B. by putting a knife on her throat and robbing her money, a small radio, and a camera. D also admitted killing Robert Pierce after the latter solicited a homosexual act from him. D took Pierce's watch. P presented evidence that to buy cocaine, D sold Smith's property possibly before and after her death. The evidence suggested that D falsely claimed that the items went burglarized. Both D's two psychotherapists warned Smith that she was in danger. P presented a theory that D planned to kill smith by placing the hammer under the bed to have it nearby to strike when the time is right, or after the quarrel, he went so mad that he went to the tool box to get the hammer intending to kill Smith while she was asleep. P claimed that the killing was provoked by a weeks-long period of conduct related to his ongoing dysfunctional relationship with Smith. D requested a special jury instruction, which stated - A person may act in the heat of passion at the time of the killing because of a series of events, which occur over a considerable period. When the provocation extends for a long time, you must take such a period into account in determining whether there was a sufficient cooling period for the passion to subside. The trial court refused. The court gave the standard instructions on voluntary manslaughter with definitions of the heat of passion, provocation, and the cooling period. D was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. D appealed.