People v. Pearson

Summary

The court affirmed Pearson's second death judgment after rejecting challenges to the reappointment and continued representation by his original trial counsel, the conduct of the penalty retrial, and the preservation of his prior guilt-phase convictions. It held that Pearson had no right to be present when counsel was appointed, that the trial court had no duty to conduct a Marsden hearing based solely on a nonparty attorney's filing, and that any potential conflict caused no demonstrated prejudice. The court further held that the evidence supported the felony-murder special-circumstance findings and that any retroactive instructional error arising from later changes to felony-murder law was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.