Court Reverses Death Penalty

A sharply divided state Supreme Court today reversed the death sentence of a North Hollywood man who killed a father and son after a drunken argument, then acted as his own lawyer after three judges refused to appoint an attorney to advise him.

In a case that produced four separate opinions, the court voted 4 to 3 to uphold the murder convictions of Kenneth Crandell but, in a different alignment, also voted 4 to 3 to reverse his death sentence and allow a new penalty trial. Crandell, now 54, was convicted of murdering Ernest Pruett and his son Edward, 14, in the San Fernando Valley home he shared with them in July, 1980.