Allen

Petitioner seeks a writ of prohibition and/ or mandate directing the respondent court to strike the special circumstance allegation “that the murder. . .was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity...” from the information.

Petitioner Jimmy Doyle Allen was charged with having committed two criminal offenses. The first count alleged that petitioner “did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously and with malice aforethought murder Jesus Lara, a human being, in violation of Section 187 of the Penal Code.” It was further alleged that: (1) petitioner used a deadly and dangerous weapon (i.e., a knife) in the commission of the offense (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b)); (2) the murder occurred while petitioner was engaged in the commission of a robbery (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i)); and (3) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(14)). The second count of the information alleged that petitioner committed robbery by taking a 1969 Ford automobile from the posses sion of Jesus Lara. It was further alleged that: (1) petitioner used a deadly and dangerous weapon…