The Supreme Court today affirms the death sentence in People v. Bell, imposed for the 1997 murder of a Quik Stop clerk in Turlock. As is typical in direct capital appeals, the court’s unanimous opinion by Justice Carol Corrigan rejects numerous arguments.
In this case, issues include the denial of funds to hire a jury selection consultant, the refusal to excuse seven prospective jurors who were allegedly biased in favor of the death penalty, the denial of a motion to recuse the district attorney’s office for a conflict of interest, the defendant’s absence from part of the trial, the superior court’s response to violent outbursts by the defendant, and the playing of audio with a surveillance video of the murder. As to the last issue, the court holds that the sounds of the victim dying, “[w]hile unpleasant, . . . are not so gruesome that they would distract the jury or prevent it from performing its proper role.”