Burrows

The People charged defendant, Kenneth Wayne Burrows, with the attempted robbery and the murders of Ray Slaven (also known as William Holt) and Thomas Crawford. All counts included a gun use allegation. Additionally, the People alleged two special circumstances: (1) the murders were committed during the commission or attempted commission of a robbery (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i)), and (2) defendant committed multiple murders (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(3).)

Defendant and his brother, Eldon Burrows, had a joint preliminary hearing, after which the superior court severed their trials. Defendant then sought to be represented at trial by Stevan Noxon, the same attorney who had represented Eldon at the preliminary hearing, but who was no longer Eldon’s counsel. The court found a clear conflict of interest and, exercising its discretion, did not allow defendant to proceed with Noxon as counsel.

A jury found defendant guilty of the second degree murder of Ray Slaven and the first degree murder of Thomas Crawford, and not guilty of attempted robbery. The jury found the firearm enhancements and the attempted robbery special circumstance to be not true and the…