Opinion of the Court, in Which Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and Justices Chin, Corrigan, Liu, Cuéllar, and Groban Concurred
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RYAN JAMES HOYT, Defendant and Appellant. S113653 Santa Barbara County Superior Court 1014465 __________________________________________________________ January 30, 2020 Justice Kruger authored the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and Justices Chin, Corrigan, Liu, Cuéllar, and Groban concurred. ___________________________________________________________ . PEOPLE v. HOYT S113653 Opinion of the Court by Kruger, J. Defendant Ryan James Hoyt was convicted of the kidnap and murder of Nicholas Markowitz and sentenced to death. We affirm the judgment. I. BACKGROUND On October 30, 2000, defendant was charged by grand jury indictment with kidnapping 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz (who was known as Nick) for ransom or extortion and for murdering him, as well as a personal firearm use enhancement. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(B), 209, subd. (a).) Codefendants Jesse James Hollywood, Jesse Rugge, Graham Pressley, and William Skidmore were charged with the same crimes, but the cases were severed and defendant stood trial first. A jury convicted defendant of one count of first degree murder in violation of Penal Code section 187 and one count of kidnapping committed with the personal use of a firearm in violation of Penal Code sections 207 and 12022.5, respectively. The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed during the course of a kidnapping under Penal Code section 190.2, subdivision (a)(17)(B). The jury returned a verdict of death. This appeal is automatic. (Id., § 1239, subd. (b).) PEOPLE v. HOYT Opinion of the Court by Kruger, J.
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