Burton

People v. Burton

Good Law
241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 35·29 Cal. App. 5th 917
Court of Appeal of CaliforniaDecember 4, 2018C084180California2,975 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

Duarte, J.

*919 A jury found defendant Shauna Marie Burton guilty of two counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree robbery, found true a multiple-murder *37 special circumstance, and found true allegations that defendant used two deadly weapons (a flashlight and a knife). ( Pen. Code, §§ 187, 190.2, subd. (a)(3), 211, 12022, subd. (b)(1).) The trial court sentenced defendant to prison for life without parole plus seven years, and defendant timely filed this appeal.

Defendant contends the trial court improperly admitted evidence about a prior conviction, no substantial evidence supports first degree murder, and the court misinstructed on the use of willfully false prior statements. We shall affirm.

BACKGROUND

There is no serious dispute about whether defendant robbed a pharmacy cashier one morning and later that day killed the elderly victims, Melvin and Jean Bain (hereafter Melvin and Jean) in their trailer. A witness saw defendant go into the trailer to get some pain pills and then heard screaming from the trailer, including defendant saying someone owed her. Bloody prescription bottles and pills were found on a bedroom floor. After her arrest, defendant made many…

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