PEOPLE v.
Filed 8/12/10
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE PEOPLE, )
)
Plaintiff and Respondent, )
) S081148
v. )
)
MARTIN CARL JENNINGS, )
) San Bernardino County
Defendant and Appellant. ) Super. Ct. No. FVI-04195
__________________________________ )
Story continued from part II…..
Defendant, focusing entirely on Michelle's
allegedly innocuous intent in giving Arthur the sleeping pills, argues there
was insufficient evidence of his intent to kill. The relevant inquiry, however, is whether defendant
harbored an intent to kill when he tortured Arthur. The nature of the torture inflicted upon
Arthur -- the continuous infliction of serious and possibly
life-threatening physical injuries while deliberately and systematically
starving Arthur to the point of emaciation -- is sufficient to suggest that
defendant had such intent. In evaluating
the evidence regarding intent to kill, the jury was not required to credit, and
was entitled to reject, defendant's repeated claims to the contrary. Defendant admitted that one of his last acts
of torture -- hitting Arthur on the back of the head with a shovel so hard
that it caused a large, gaping wound -- might have killed Arthur,
suggesting this was his intent. Defendant
also admitted he was â€
| Description | A San Bernardino County jury found defendant Martin Carl Jennings guilty of the first degree murder of his five-year-old son, Arthur Jennings. (Pen. Code, § 187.)[1] The jury further found true the special circumstance that the murder was intentional and involved the infliction of torture (§ 190.2, subd (a)(18)), but found not true the special circumstance that defendant intentionally killed Arthur by the administration of poison (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(19)). Following the penalty phase of the trial, the jury returned a verdict of death. After denying defendant's motion for a new trial and his application for modification of the judgment (§ 190.4, subd. (e)), the trial court sentenced defendant to death. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm the judgment in its entirety. |
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