People v. Brown CA1/5

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 10, 1987, Broadnax was found strangled to death behind the carport of an Oakland apartment building. She had several broken fingernails and injuries to her body, showing signs of a struggle. Three witnesses saw Brown with Broadnax the day before her body was found. One witness saw Brown and Broadnax enter a house across the street from the witness’s front door. At about 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., the witness heard the woman yelling for help for about an hour. Later, the witness observed Brown carry an

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 object across the street into the carport area. A fingernail from the victim’s body was preserved in evidence, but not tested for trace DNA evidence until April 18, 2012. A comparison to a sample from Brown in the Combined DNA Index System matched Brown’s profile, and Brown was charged with the murder. It was alleged that Brown committed the offense while engaged in the commission of rape (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(C) [special circumstance requiring imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole]). On May 14, 2014, Brown pled no contest to first degree murder, and the special…