P v. BOYER
Filed 5/11/06
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
THE PEOPLE, )
)
v. )
Defendant and Appellant. ) Super. Ct. No. C-51866
__________ )
In 1984, a jury convicted defendant Richard Delmer Boyer of the first degree murders (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189)[1] and robberies (§ 211) of Francis and Aileen Harbitz. An allegation that defendant used a deadly weapon, a knife, in each of the offenses was sustained. (§ 12022, former subd. (b), see now subd. (b)(1).) Under the 1978 death penalty law, special circumstances of multiple murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)), and robbery murder (id., former subd. (a)(17)(i), see now subd. (a)(17)(A)) were found true.[2] After a penalty trial, the jury sentenced defendant to death.
We reversed the 1984 guilt and penalty judgments. We concluded that defendant's confession to the police in a custodial setting was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment and Miranda v. Arizona (1968) 384 U.S. 436, and that admission of the confession in evidence at his trial was prejudicial on the issue of guilt. However, on the record before us, we saw no basis to conclude that other evidence admitted against him was tainted by the Fourth Amendment and Miranda violations, such that it could not be used in any retrial. (People v. Boyer (1989) 48 Cal.3d 247 (Boyer I).)
After a retrial, in which defendant's confession was not admitted, a jury again found defendant guilty of the robberies and first degree murders of the Harbitzes. A knife-use allegation was again sustained for each crime. The jury found true, as special circumstances, that each murder was committed in the course of a robbery, and that defendant was convicted of more than one murder in the proceeding. Pursuant to the jury's penalty verdict, defendant was again sentenced to death.
This appeal is automatic. We will affirm the guilt and penalty judgments in full.
I. Guilt Phase Evidence
A. Prosecution case.
In December 1982, retirees Francis Harbitz, age 68, and his wife Aileen Harbitz, age 69,[3] were stabbed to death in their Fullerton home. Their bodies were discovered on the late evening of December 12, 1982, by their son William, who came to check on them after attempts to reach them by telephone during that day had failed. William had last seen and spoken to his parents on December 5, 1982.
A friend of Aileen's had telephoned once on the evening of December 7, and several times on the morning of December 8, but got no answer. Later on December 8, the friend went to the Harbitz residence, knocked, got no response, and slipped a note under the door. Papers with handwriting were found on the floor inside the front door on the night of December 12.
When William entered the house, he found Francis's body sitting upright against a bloody hallway wall. Aileen's was lying, surrounded by blood, on the floor of the living room. Francis had sustained some 24 stab wounds to his neck, upper and lower chest, and back. Three of his ribs were fractured by a knife entering his back, and he also suffered a broken arm. One of the neck wounds severed his left carotid artery. Three chest wounds penetrated his heart, and one of these also cut his ascending aorta. Francis bled to death from the wounds to his heart and aorta. Aileen suffered 19 stab wounds to her neck, chest, abdomen, and back. One abdominal entry wound transected her left lung four times, indicating the assailant repeatedly withdrew the knife and reinserted it in the same track. A wound beneath her left ear penetrated to her spine. One of the chest wounds transected her ascending aorta. She bled to death as a result.
At the crime scene, a purse found in the kitchen contained no wallet. Later, at the crime lab, two $50 bills were found folded inside a smaller container at the bottom of this purse. A second purse, found in a back bedroom, contained a total of $40 in cash. In Francis's bedroom, a wallet in a dresser drawer contained approximately $260 in cash. The premises showed no signs of forced entry or ransacking.
On the night William discovered his parents' bodies, he mentioned defendant's name to the police. William had met defendant three years earlier, when defendant lived near William and his wife in a Fullerton apartment complex known as the International Hotel. William introduced defendant to his parents, and defendant had done yard work for the senior Harbitzes. Defendant's relationship with the victims was cordial, and they had lent him money. According to William, defendant wore a â€
