People v. Demolle

── People v. Demolle ── Court: California Supreme Court Date: June 01, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ALEX DEMOLLE, Defendant and Appellant. S159120 Alameda County Superior Court 140729 June 1, 2026 Chief Justice Guerrero authored the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Corrigan, Kruger, Groban, and Jenkins* concurred. Justice Liu filed a concurring and dissenting opinion. Justice Evans filed a concurring and dissenting opinion. * Retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.  PEOPLE v. DEMOLLE S159120 Opinion of the Court by Guerrero, C. J. On July 23, 1999, 11-year-old Jaquita Mack went missing.1 Her body was discovered the next day on a hillside in Oakland. Two weeks later, defendant Alex Demolle confessed to raping and strangling Jaquita. After hearing this confession and other evidence, a jury convicted defendant of first degree murder. (Pen. Code, § 187.)2 The jury also found true two special circumstance allegations: murder during the commission of a rape (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(C)) and murder during the commission of a lewd and lascivious act on a person under the age of 14 (id., subd. (a)(17)(E)). The jury returned a sentence of death, which the trial court imposed. This automatic appeal follows. We affirm the judgment. I. BACKGROUND A. Evidence at the Guilt Phase The evidence introduced by the prosecution established that Jaquita lived with her aunt and court-appointed legal guardian, Verna White. However, in July 1999, she was visiting her biological parents, James Mack and Kenya White, staying 1 Both parties refer to the victim by her first name. We do the same. 2 All further unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code. 1  PEOPLE v. DEMOLLE Opinion of the Court by Guerrero, C. J. with them at their house on East 29th Street in Oakland. James Mack and Kenya White were no longer in a romantic relationship, and James Mack’s girlfriend, Chris Aubrey, was also residing at the house on East 29th Street. Around 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 23, 1999, Jaquita left the house to ride her bicycle to a nearby store. At some point, Aubrey realized Jaquita had been gone for a long time. Aubrey went to look for Jaquita. While doing so, she encountered defendant, who lived around the corner from East 29th Street in an apartment complex on Fruitvale Avenue. She asked if he had seen Jaquita, giving a description of both Jaquita and the bicycle she was riding. Defendant denied having seen Jaquita. Aubrey subsequently called the police to report Jaquita missing. The police discovered Jaquita’s body the next day on a hillside about a mile from her parents’ house. Her body was wrapped in a sheet, her midriff was exposed, and her pants were low on her pelvis and irregularly laced. Doctor Sharon Van Meter conducted an autopsy. She determined that Jaquita had died from “[a]sphyxia due to strangulation.” Van Meter collected vaginal and rectal swabs from Jaquita’s body. Sperm was detected from both swabs, and a DNA profile was created from the rectal swab. On August 3, 1999, Oakland Police Sergeant Derwin Longmire, the lead detective on Jaquita’s case, was conducting a neighborhood canvass around the area of East 29th Street and Fruitvale Avenue. Longmire explained that a canvass “is a door- to-door search where [police] officers . . . go to each residence . . . [¶] . . . knock on the door and talk to the residents.” As part of this canvass, Longmire spoke to defendant briefly. Defendant