People v. Manier

Manier alleges the trial court erred: (1) in refusing to allow the expert testimony of Dr. Manes, a psychiatrist, about the mental condition accompanying defendants initial use of L.S.D.; (2) in failing to require the prosecution to produce for defense inspection an alleged statement of Carl Collins taken by police shortly after the offense occurred; (3) in excluding defense evidence consisting of letters from the defendant to his mother and to the defendant from his wife, Josephine; and (4) in the instruction to the jury regarding the effects of L.S.D. upon the elements of deliberation and premeditation. He further contends that he was denied a fair trial because the jury was told that the victim was pregnant at the time of her death; that the six jurors who voiced categorical objection to the imposition of the death penalty deprived Manier of his right to an impartial jury under the Colorado and United States Constitutions; that the imposition of the death penalty here constituted a violation of the Eighth and Ninth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article II, ? 22 of the Colorado Constitution. The last issue has become moot as the defendants sentence presently is life imprisonment. As to the remaining issues (1) through (6), we find that no reversible error was committed by the trial court and we therefore affirm.