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Wednesday, April 23, 2025

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California death penalty reversed under new standard

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court reversed a death sentence because there are now two legal standards for incompetency: one for determining if a defendant is competent to stand trial, and one for determining if a defendant can represent themselves. The new standard should be applied retroactively because this inmate’s appeal was still pending at the time of the legal standard’s issuance.

Read the ruling here.

Read our coverage of another recent California death penalty reversal here.

Categories / Appeals, Briefs, Civil Rights, Criminal

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