People v. Brents, 267 P.3d 1135

Brents assaulted Kelly Gordon over $100 from a meth sale, choked her, and placed her alive in a Cadillac trunk.
Gordon's body was found in the burning trunk near Lakewood; investigators found gasoline residues and a DNA match to Uele for one clue.
Brents was charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, and assault with intent to cause great bodily injury, with multiple special circumstances and prior-term enhancements alleged.
At trial, the jury found the kidnapping special circumstance true, but could not decide the torture special circumstance; the court retried or considered the priors bifurcated, and Brents received a death sentence.
The trial court later stayed the kidnapping-related penalties, and the state appealed/defense cross-appealed on the penalty issues, leading to an automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court.
On appeal, the court reversed the death sentence and struck the kidnapping special circumstance finding due to an instructional error, remanding for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether there was sufficient independent felonious purpose to kidnap Gordon	Brents argues kidnapping had no independent purpose beyond murder.	Brents contends evidence shows no concurrent purpose to kidnap separate from killing.	Evidence was sufficient to support an independent kidnapping purpose.
Whether the jury instruction on kidnapping special circumstance was correct	State argues standard instruction suffices with contextual modification.	Brents argues the instruction improperly tied kidnapping to assault and misled the jury.	Trial court erred in modifying CALJIC 8.81.17; error prejudicial; kidnapping special circumstance reversed.
Whether the 654 violation occurred by stacking death and assault sentences	State contends separate purposes justify consecutive terms.	Brents argues the murder and assault were indivisible, so cannot both be punished.	Court upheld the trial court’s separation of the offenses; no §654 error.
Whether the admission of Uele's hearsay statement via 791/1236 was proper	Prosecution contends admission rehabilitated credibility after implied charge of fabrication.	Brents argues temporal requirement of 791(b) was not met.	Temporal requirement satisfied; admission proper.

People v. Navarette, 30 Cal.4th 458 (2003) (requires independent felonious purpose for kidnapping/arson under specific circumstances)
People v. Green, 27 Cal.3d 1 (1980) (independent purpose to kidnapping must be shown for felony-murder special circumstances)
People v. Bolden, 29 Cal.4th 515 (2002) (emphasizes standard for evaluating special circumstances)
People v. Raley, 2 Cal.4th 870 (1992) (discusses concurrent intents supporting felony-murder special circumstances)
People v. Dement, 53 Cal.4th 1 (2011) (instructional clarity in complex special circumstance cases)
People v. Kennedy, 36 Cal.4th 595 (2005) (prior consistent statements and rehabilitation after fabrication charges)