People v. Superior Court (Reed)

Lamont Reed, the real party in interest in this original proceeding, is awaiting trial in respondent court under an information charging him with the murder of Chearl Reed on April 14, 1978. The information was amended to include an additional charge that he committed the murder under some of the “special circumstances” defined in Penal Code section 190.2 and cited in other provisions of the death penalty law.

Section 190.2 provides that a defendant so charged may be punished by death, or by life imprisonment without possibility of parole, if he is found guilty of murder in the first degree and if the special circumstance charge is found to be true. Real party (hereinafter defendant) may not be punished by death because he had not reached the age of 18 years on April 14, 1978, and section 190.5 provides that “the death pen alty shall not be imposed upon any person who is under the age of 18 years at the time of the commission of the crime” which would otherwise warrant it. Respondent court made an order striking the special circumstance charge for these reasons. The People challenged the order by commencing the present proceeding, in which they seek a writ of mandate…