People v. Easter CA1/2

BACKGROUND

The First Trial and Appeal As we briefly summarized Easter’s first trial and conviction in our 2019 opinion: “On the night of August 7, 2013, Janice Easter, defendant’s wife of five years, was shot to death in the living room of the home she shared with defendant. Defendant was arrested shortly after the murder. A March 26, 2014 information charged him with murder with a firearm enhancement and felon in possession of a firearm, further alleging he had three prior serious felony convictions and three prior strikes. [¶] . . . “[I]n May 2014, defense counsel declared a doubt regarding defendant’s competency to stand trial, and the criminal proceeding was suspended pending the outcome of a Penal Code section 1368 competency proceeding. In April 2015, a jury found defendant competent to stand trial, and the homicide case resumed.

2 “In October 2015, after defense counsel twice unsuccessfully renewed the issue of defendant’s competency, defendant was tried before a jury, which found him guilty of first degree murder and found true the personal use of a firearm allegation. Following a bench trial, the trial court found defendant guilty on the firearm possession charge and…