Gonzalez

Defendant was indicted for the murder of Juanita Zepeda. He entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity but withdrew them and pleaded guilty to murder in the first degree. Upon a trial by jury on the sole issue of penalty, his punishment was fixed at death. His motion for a new trial was denied, and the appeal comes to us automatically under subdivision (b) of section 1239 of the Penal Code.

Juanita Zepeda, who was 10 years old, was in bed asleep when her family left for work in the early morning of August 29, 1960. There was evidence that she was then wearing a blouse, a slip and panties. When her mother came home in the afternoon, Juanita had disappeared. The bedspread and the upper sheet on her bed were missing, and the lower sheet was disarranged. A metal box which contained money and was kept under her bed was also gone. On the following day, the girl’s body was discovered buried in the yard of her home. The blouse and the slip were still on the body, but the panties were not. A doctor who performed an autopsy found six wounds produced by blows on the head, neck and shoulders, but in his opinion the wounds, while bringing about unconsciousness, were not…