In re Bettencourt CA6

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Underlying Crimes Bettencourt was 23 years old when he murdered 20-year-old Thomas Mallory in Santa Clara County in 1975. Bettencourt shot Mallory in the back at close range with a rifle in a shopping mall parking lot. At that time, Mallory was the boyfriend of Bettencourt’s former girlfriend Patricia Campbell, against whom he had committed domestic violence, and who was present at the scene of Mallory’s murder. After murdering Mallory, Bettencourt fled the scene with Campbell in a stolen vehicle and, over the next five days, committed a series of violent offenses in Santa Clara and Monterey counties, including burglary, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. In the course of those crimes, Bettencourt tied up and robbed a man in his home, took his car, and got into a shootout with the police, injuring an officer. In 1976, Bettencourt was convicted of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 1872) in Santa Clara County and was sentenced to seven years to life in prison. He was also convicted in Monterey County of first degree burglary (§ 459), first degree robbery (§ 211), two counts of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (b)), and vehicle…