Pool

A jury found defendant Timón Joel Pool guilty of the first degree murder of Lillian Best and the second degree murder of Best’s unborn fetus and found true a multiple-murder special-circumstance allegation. Defendant was sentenced to state prison for life without possibility of parole. On appeal, defendant argues the trial court committed reversible error by misinstructing the jury on murder of a fetus. Finding no error, we will affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 23, 2006, defendant strangled his girlfriend, Lillian Best, to death. While performing an autopsy on July 24, the forensic pathologist noticed Best’s uterus was noticeably larger than normal, and further investigation showed she had been pregnant. Because Best was in the early stages of pregnancy and was obese, her pregnancy was “not something obvious externally.” The forensic pathologist, as well as a coroner’s office pathologist who reviewed the forensic pathologist’s report, both estimated the gestational age of the fetus to be about 12 weeks. Both pathologists also concluded that the fetus died as a result of the death of the mother.

Defendant claimed not to have known Best was pregnant…