California Legal Brief

The Rule of People v. Barrera is that evidence of prolonged physical abuse, deliberate starvation, isolation, and refusal to seek medical care can support convictions for first degree murder by torture and premeditated/deliberate murder of children, under circumstances involving systematic abuse causing multiple injuries over time combined with fatal acts against severely weakened victims.

The Rule of People v. Stayner is that a defendant's statement "I prefer not to talk now" during a Miranda advisement does not constitute an unambiguous invocation of Miranda rights when the defendant subsequently agrees to be interviewed at a different location, under circumstances where the defendant was told he was not under arrest, voluntarily agreed to travel with FBI agents, and later voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and signed a waiver form before making any incriminating statements.