People v. Melton CA4/3

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1981, police found 77-year-old Anthony DeSousa dead in his Newport Beach condominium. DeSousa had been severely beaten about the face and head; one of DeSousa’s teeth had been broken. A forensic pathologist opined that the cause of death was ligature strangulation. In 1982, Johnny Boyd testified against Melton at a preliminary

2 hearing. Boyd later testified at a trial. The jury convicted Melton of murder, burglary, robbery, and found true two special circumstances. The jury imposed the death penalty. The California Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on direct appeal. In 1992, Boyd died. In 2007, a federal district court granted habeas corpus relief. The court held Melton was tried while mentally incompetent. In 2011, Melton was retried on the same charges and special circumstances; however, the People were no longer seeking the death penalty. In a pretrial proceeding, the trial court denied the People’s motion to admit Boyd’s preliminary hearing testimony. The court declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. In 2014, Melton was again retried, but this time the court admitted Boyd’s preliminary hearing…