P. v. Prince CA1/3
Following a jury trial, defendant Jamaal Anthony Prince was convicted of the murder of Jennifer Kingeter. The jury found the degree of the murder to be first degree and also found that defendant had personally used a knife in its commission. Defendant was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life in state prison for first degree murder plus a one-year consecutive term on the knife use enhancement.
Defendant timely appeals, raising three claims of instructional error, which we reject for the reasons discussed below. Defendant also maintains that, as a result of an error in the clerk’s minutes, the trial court erroneously failed to adjudicate his competence after previously suspending the criminal proceedings when defense counsel declared a doubt as to his competence. Defendant argues, and we agree, that the judgment should be reversed, subject to the trial court’s authority to hold a retrospective competency hearing if feasible and, if so, to reinstate the judgm
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