Top California court upholds death penalty for Yosemite killer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the convictions and death penalty in the high-profile case of a man convicted of killing four people in the Yosemite area over 25 years ago.

Cary Anthony Stayner, 64, made a host of challenges in his appeal to the state’s high court. He claimed authorities violated his Miranda rights, that he faced coercive questioning from law enforcement, and that police had no probable cause to arrest him. Stayner also argued the trial court judge made errors ranging from jury selection to judicial bias.

The high court found no error and affirmed his convictions and death sentence. One justice concurred with the guilty verdicts and jury finding that Stayner was sane, but dissented with the penalty verdict of death.

“Defendant asserts the cumulative effect of the trial court’s errors requires reversal,” Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote. “We have assumed error, but found no prejudice.”

Stayner faces death for the February 1999 slayings of Carol Sund, her 15-year-old daughter Juli and Argentinian family friend Silvina Pelosso. He also was convicted in the July 1999 death of Joie Armstrong, a 26-year-old naturalist who was found decapitated.

Stayner in 2001 pleaded guilty to Armstrong’s murder. A year later, a jury convicted him of the other three deaths and sentenced him to death.

Initially not a suspect, Stayner later confessed to the FBI that he entered the El Portal, California, room where Sund and the two girls were staying. He strangled Sund and later killed Pelosso, putting their bodies in their rented car. He then drove Juli to a lake near Mocassin, California, and killed her.

Stayner argued at trial that he had a mental illness, which stemmed in part from the 1972 kidnapping of his 7-year-old brother, Steven. The captor held his brother for seven years before he escaped. A television movie, “I Know My First Name is Steven,” was made about the experience.

In his appeal, he pointed to a conversation with an FBI agent about his brother’s kidnapping that should have been withheld from his jury. Later, in Sacramento, Stayner confessed.

Stayner argued that, despite being told he wasn’t under arrest, he was in handcuffs for the car ride to Sacramento. However, the court determined that it was for safety reasons. Also, Stayner later waved his Miranda rights. The earlier conversation in the car revealed no information about the killings and wasn’t a method to emotionally wear him down.

“Moreover, the conversation about Steven’s abduction was just one of many things discussed during the long drive, it was unrelated to the four murders, and it was not likely to lead to an incriminating response,” Guerrero wrote.

The court also found law enforcement used no coercion or promises of leniency to get a statement from Stayner. He pointed to an FBI agent’s promise of getting Stayner counseling and safe housing if incarcerated as a means to elicit a confession. The justices determined that didn’t make his confession involuntary.

Stayner also argued the trial court judge should have suppressed his confession, as authorities had no probable cause to arrest him.

However, officers found his vehicle tires were consistent with tracks discovered at Armstrong’s crime scene. That led agents to seek Stayner for more questioning, only to learn he’d failed to appear at work.

Justices determined those circumstances, along with Stayner selling personal items for low prices after being questioned, met probable cause requirements.

“Those facts are enough to provide a reasonable ground for believing that defendant was involved in the murder of Armstrong and guilty of a crime,” Guerrero wrote.

Stayner also argued the trial court made improper comments about his attorney’s cross-examination of a witness, amounting to judicial bias. The high court ruled that friction between a judge and attorney is inevitable in a long trial, finding no bias.

Andrew Parnes, Stayner’s attorney, declined comment. The state Justice Department couldn’t be reached for comment.