Pacheco

— Defendant, John Pacheco, appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187) and use of a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b)). He contends that: 1) the evidence is insufficient to support the judgment and the verdict; 2) he was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to trial by a representative cross-section because the court “death qualified” the jury and, in any event, a jury so chosen is not impartial; and 3) the court committed reversible error in failing to require an offer of proof of first degree murder before “death qualifying” the jury.

Prior to trial, defendant moved to impanel the jury without reference to the death penalty on the ground that the lengthy process of death qualification was inappropriate in a case where the prosecution could not make an offer of proof which would show first degree murder. The lower court denied this motion on the ground that it had no authority to require such a showing, but noted the absence of evidence on the element of premeditation and deliberation.

On August 1, 1979, death qualification of the jurors was begun in chambers; after the completion of the…