SAN FRANCISCO—The California Supreme Court on Jan. 22 upheld the death penalty for Glenn Taylor Helzer, the leader of a small cult who was convicted of five murders in Contra Costa and Marin counties.
In a unanimous 85-page ruling, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero rejected a challenge to discredit the evidence from a sweeping search of Helzer’s Concord home, as well as a defense argument that a trial error might have occurred when a juror candidate who was against the death penalty was dismissed.
