Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

A,friend in california , served 14yrs in prison, for attempted murder.was paroled may of 2015. Him and his girlfriend were arguing, then he allegedly, accused of shooting his 17 wks. pregnant girlfriend, she died, .my friend fled d scene, he is in violation of parole also, ...he is bipolar, , ..what is he looking at in terms of sentence, ....is there a death penalty in CA, ..


Asked on 7/08/16, 9:56 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

California does have the death penalty. It's only available in murder cases that involve "special circumstances," which I won't try to catalog here. This killing might not be prosecuted as a murder at all; depending on the facts, it could be deemed manslaughter instead. Even if it's treated as a murder, there might not be any special circumstances involved. And even if there are special circumstances, the prosecutor might choose not to seek the death penalty.

Your friend could be sentenced to life in prison, or to some number of years which would then be doubled because the prior conviction you mention would qualify as a strike for purposes of the three-strikes law. If he already has another strike, he'd be sentenced to at least 25-to-life if convicted.

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Answered on 7/08/16, 10:14 am


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