Hurd

Relevant Procedural History

On May 24, 1993, an information was filed charging appellant Dale Ray Hurd with the murder of Beatrice Hurd in violation of Penal Code section 187. The information alleged as a special circumstance that the murder was intentionally carried out for financial gain (§ 190.2, subd. (a)), and that appellant personally used a firearm (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)). A first trial resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial.

Following a second trial, a jury found appellant guilty of first degree murder and found true the special circumstance allegation. Appellant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus four years, pursuant to section 12022.5, subdivision (a), to be served consecutively. Appellant appealed the judgment. We affirmed the judgment in an unpublished opinion on December 11, 1997.

In our original opinion we held that appellant did not invoke his right to silence when he refused to demonstrate the shooting and to take a polygraph examination. Thus, we held that the prosecution’s use of appellant’s refusals for impeachment purposes did not constitute Doyle error. (Doyle v. Ohio (1976) 426 U.S. 610 [ 96 S.Ct. 2240 , 49…