P. v. Courtney
Following a jurys finding that defendant Derrick Kinte Courtney was competent to stand trial, a jury convicted him of first degree murder (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a); 189)[1]with a finding that a principal was armed with a firearm in the commission of the offense ( 12022.2, subd. (a)(1)). Then, in a trial by court, the court found true a special circumstance allegation that defendant had a prior conviction for first degree murder ( 190.2, subd. (a)(2)). Defendant was sentenced to state prison for life without the possibility of parole plus an additional year for the armed finding, this term to run consecutively to a sentence defendant was then serving for the other first degree murder. Relying on People v. Castro (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 1402 (Castro), defendant contends that reversal of his latest murder conviction is required because the trial court prejudicially erred when it failed to appoint, sua sponte, the Director of the Regional Center for the Developmentally Disabled (hereafter the DRC) to evaluate his competency to stand trial. The judgment is affirmed.
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