DePriest

A jury convicted Timothy Lee DePriest (defendant) of the first degree murder of a young woman named Hong Thi Nguyen. (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a).) Defendant also was found guilty of robbery (§ 211) and attempted rape (§§ 261, former subd. 2, now subd. (a)(2), 664), and of being a felon in the possession of a concealable firearm (§ 12021, former subd. (a), as amended by Stats. 1983, ch. 1092, § 326.5, p. 4062; see now § 12021, subd. (a)(1)). The jury sustained special circumstance allegations that defendant committed the murder while engaged in the commission of robbery and attempted rape. (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(i), (ill), now subd. (a)(17)(A), (C).) Additional findings were that defendant personally used a firearm (pistol) in committing the murder, the robbery, and the attempted rape. (§§ 1203.06, subd. (a)(1), 12022.5, subd. (a).)

The evidence supporting the guilt verdict showed that the victim, Nguyen, was left half-naked and mortally wounded in the trash area behind the shopping center at which she worked in Garden Grove, Orange County. She was shot in the head around 6:00 p.m. on December 17, 1989, and died a few hours later. She appeared to have been…