Court Overturns California Man's Conviction, Death Sentence

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for a gang member convicted of strangling two men at a Los Angeles hotel.

In a unanimous ruling Monday, the court said a judge wrongly stopped Frank Becerra from acting as his own attorney following the 1994 slayings.

The judge said Becerra was stalling and appointed a public defender over his objections.

A jury convicted Becerra of killing the men, who were bound together and strangled with electrical cords.

The Supreme Court found there was no evidence to support the judge's claim and overturned Becerra's murder conviction and sentence.

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