The State : Court Upholds Death Penalty

The California Supreme Court, continuing a trend that started after the ouster of the so-called Rose Bird court, has upheld the death sentence imposed on murderer Fernando Belmontes. Since California voters deposed former Chief Justice Bird and two associates in 1986, the high court has upheld 23 of the 31 death penalty sentences it has reviewed. Belmontes is on Death Row at San Quentin Prison for the 1981 clubbing death of Stacey McConnell during a burglary at her San Joaquin County home. The appeal to the Supreme Court was automatic. In a unanimous 112-page ruling written by Justice David Eagleson, the court found “no prejudicial error, whether viewed singly or cumulatively, at either the guilt or penalty phases of defendant’s trial.”