Evans

Defendant was charged by information with two counts of violation of Penal Code section 187 (murder) and one count of violation of Penal Code section 217 (assault with intent to commit murder). Count I alleged the murder of Wardell Adams; count II alleged the murder of Elaine Adams; and count III alleged an assault with intent to commit murder on the person of Sandra Evans. Defendant pled not guilty. After a jury trial, he was found guilty of both counts of murder, which were found to be in the first degree, and of assault with intent to commit murder. The jury fixed the penalty on the murder counts as imprisonment in the state prison for fife. Defendant was sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison for the term of his natural life on counts I and II, and to imprisonment in the state prison for the term prescribed by law on count III, the sentences on all three counts to run concurrently with- each other. Defendant appeals from the judgment.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the evidence showed that at the time of the incident the defendant was married and in the process of a divorce action commenced by his wife. After a conciliation hearing,…