People v. Smith

I.

INTRODUCTION

During the guilt phase of a bifurcated trial, a jury found Linde Smith guilty of second-degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187)1 and found true a deadly weapon enhancement allegation (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)).2 Smith’s mother, Anne Smith (Anne), was the victim. During the sanity phase of the trial, the jury found that Smith was legally sane at the time she committed the offense. The trial court sentenced Smith to a term of 16 years to life in prison, consisting of a 15 years to life term for the murder and a one-year consecutive term for the deadly weapon enhancement. On appeal, with respect to the guilt phase, Smith claims that the trial court erred in excluding certain evidence pertaining to the severity of her depression at the time of the incident giving rise to the charged offense. In addition, Smith contends that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury sua sponte on involuntary manslaughter as an uncharged lesser included offense to murder. Smith also maintains that the cumulative error doctrine requires reversal of the guilt-phase verdicts. With respect to the sanity phase, Smith claims that the trial court violated her constitutional right to due…