Engert

Allen Leroy Engert seeks a writ restraining respondent superior court from proceeding on the special circumstance (torture) allegation (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(18)) in an information by which petitioner is charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187). Restraint is also sought against trial of a second count of the information, charging penetration by a foreign object (Pen. Code, § 289).

The victim, Adria Manning, was killed May 16, 1979, near midnight. Postmortem examination revealed several areas of trauma: a band-like mark encircled her neck and showed evidence of an abrasion of the skin; the tissue at the front of the neck was bruised in the area of the larynx and the right horn of the hyoid bone was fractured.

The marks about the neck were consistent with some sort of strap or rope being placed around the neck. The hyoid bone injury is commonly seen in the case of manual strangulation. In the opinion of the medical examiner, death was caused by strangulation. The victim’s face was swollen and abraded, and the scalp showed fresh bruising.

The chest had small bruises, and the wrists had purplish lines around them, which were apparently caused by band-like…