Trimble

Appellant was convicted after a jury trial of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187). The trial court found true a special allegation that appellant suffered a prior serious felony conviction in Oregon within the meaning of section 667, subdivision (a). He was sentenced to a state prison term of 15 years to life for the murder conviction, together with a consecutive term of 5 years for the prior conviction.

The murder victim was Jodi Lods (hereafter Jodi or the victim), with whom appellant had lived for nearly seven years before her death in May of 1989. Appellant and Jodi had two children together: Wade and Ashley, who were ages four and two and one-half years, respectively, at the time Jodi was killed.

Appellant and Jodi had a tumultuous relationship during which, appellant admitted, he struck her on numerous occasions, inflicting physical injuries of varying seriousness. In November of 1988, Jodi complained hysterically by telephone from Point Arena to her mother that appellant had beaten and kicked her. The following day, Jodi left with the two children for Santa Rosa. When she arrived there, her mother observed that “[s]he had black and blue marks all over her.”…