People v. Gardner
Annotate this CaseBean discovered that someone broke into his gun safe and took shotguns and a pistol. The safe had been pried open. The doors of Bean’s residence showed no signs of forced entry; there were tool marks on a gun safe and took prints on the front of the safe. Four days later, the body of Bean’s son was discovered in Contra Costa County. His wrists, ankles, and neck bore ligature marks and there were lacerations, abrasions, and contusions about his face and head. His T-shirt was blood stained, though no blood was found on the ground, suggesting that he had been murdered elsewhere. It was determined that he had been murdered at the residence of defendant’s confederate. A jury convicted defendant of first degree murder, torture, first degree burglary, and grand theft. The trial court found that defendant had served prior prison terms and sentenced defendant to 29 years to life. The appeals court affirmed, with a limited remand to correct a conceded sentencing error. The court rejected claims of Faretta2 error, based on the trial court’s conclusion that defendant was competent to stand trial but not competent to represent himself, and a claim of prejudicial delay in arraignment.
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