People v. Jackson

The major question in this appeal requires us to determine whether the legislative provisions set forth in Penal Code sections 28 and 29, which limit the scope of psychiatric testimony and abolish the defense of diminished capacity, deprived appellant of a fair trial. We hold that these provisions are constitutional. We modify and affirm the judgment of conviction and remand the matter for resentencing for the reasons indicated below.

Factual Background

The circumstances of the crime are not in dispute. On January 26, 1981, appellant Arthur Richard Jackson saw the film “Defiance,” in which actress Theresa Saldana appeared. Two days later, he began to think about killing her.

Nearly a year later, Jackson came to the United States from England and engaged a private investigator to find Saldana’s home address.

On the morning of March 15, 1982, he went to her home. A neighbor saw Jackson walking a half block from Saldana’s home, carrying a black satchel. Thirty minutes later the neighbor “saw the same gentleman go by again and I thought it was a little different than the ordinary person going back and forth.” Jackson walked back and forth three or four times in the next…