People v. Stayner

── People v. Stayner ── Court: California Supreme Court Date: April 30, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CARY ANTHONY STAYNER, Defendant and Appellant. S112146 Santa Clara County Superior Court 210694 April 30, 2026 Chief Justice Guerrero authored the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Corrigan, Liu, Kruger, Groban, and Adams* concurred. Justice Evans filed a concurring and dissenting opinion. * Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.  PEOPLE v. STAYNER S112146 Opinion of the Court by Guerrero, C. J. This case is an automatic appeal from a judgment of death. (Pen. Code,1 § 1239, subd. (b).) Defendant Cary Anthony Stayner used a ruse to enter the motel room of Carole Sund, her 15-year-old daughter Juli Sund, and their 16-year-old family friend Silvina Pelosso.2 Once inside the room, defendant brandished a gun and used duct tape to bind Carole and the girls. He murdered Carole by strangling her and murdered Silvina by strangling and suffocating her. Then, over the course of several hours, he repeatedly sexually assaulted Juli, after which he kidnapped her, sexually assaulted her again, and then murdered her by slitting her throat. About five months later, defendant kidnapped, murdered, and decapitated Joie Armstrong. Defendant confessed to his crimes in a detailed recorded interview. The facts of the Armstrong murder, which occurred inside Yosemite National Park (Yosemite) and was prosecuted by federal authorities, were presented during the penalty phase. After a jury trial, defendant was convicted of the murders of Carole, Juli, and Silvina (§ 187, subd. (a)) and of kidnapping Juli (§ 207). As to the three murder counts, the jury found true allegations that defendant personally used a deadly and 1 Unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Because several victims and witnesses share the same last names, we occasionally refer to them by their first names. 1  PEOPLE v. STAYNER Opinion of the Court by Guerrero, C. J. dangerous weapon (former § 12022, subd. (b)(1)) and personally used a firearm in the commission of the crimes (former §§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1), 12022.53, subd. (b)). The jury found true five special circumstances: Multiple murders (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)); kidnapping murder as to Juli (id., subd. (a)(17)(B)); attempted rape murder as to Juli (id., subd. (a)(17)(C)); forcible oral copulation murder as to Juli (id., subd. (a)(17)(F)); and burglary murder (id., subd. (a)(17)(G)). The jury found not true an alleged robbery-murder special circumstance. (Id., subd. (a)(17)(A).) In a separate sanity phase trial, the jury found defendant to be sane at the time of the offenses, and in a separate penalty phase trial, the jury set the penalty at death. The trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial and his motion to modify the sentence and imposed a sentence of death with a consecutive prison term of 45 years. We affirm the judgment in its entirety. I. FACTS A. Guilt Phase 1. Prosecution case a. The disappearance of Carole, Juli, and Silvina In February 1999, Carole Sund lived in Eureka with her husband Jens, their 15-year-old daughter Juli, and their three younger children. Carole planned a vacation with Juli and Silvina, a 16-year-old family friend from Argentina who was staying with them. On February 12, 1999, Carole, Juli, and Silvina flew to San Francisco, and Carole rented a red Pontiac Grand Prix from Avis Car Rental. They planned t