People v. Bunton CA2/2

BACKGROUND

On March 14, 1989, a jury convicted Bunton of first degree murder, residential burglary and robbery. The jury found true the

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Bunton petitioned the court pursuant to section 1170.95. Effective June 30, 2022, that section was renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in the text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) allegation Bunton personally used a knife during the commission of the murder and the special circumstances that he committed the murder during the commission of residential burglary and robbery. (People v. Bunton (Jan. 6, 1992, B041809) [nonpub. opn].) Bunton was sentenced to a term of life without the possibility of parole. (Ibid.) The victim, Dr. Audry Derrick, was a Presbyterian minister and Bunton’s neighbor. She was overheard complaining about Bunton’s repeated requests for money, all of which she rejected. Bunton’s fingerprints were recovered from inside Derrick’s ransacked home. Items of value belonging to Derrick were found in Bunton’s home. (People v. Bunton, supra, B041809.) Bunton appealed from the judgment. We rejected Bunton’s claims of instructional, evidentiary, and sentencing errors and…