Christopher Lee’s appeal of his conviction for brutally murdering 19-year-old Erin Corwin of Twentynine Palms was transferred from the Court of Appeals in Riverside to a Court of Appeals in San Diego yesterday, an action that is not uncommon in appeals cases. The judges in the appeals court will read briefs prepared by the defense and prosecution and make their decision—probably in a few months—about whether Lee should receive a new trial. Lee’s court-appointed defense attorney, Richard de la Sota, argued in his brief that the judge in the original case should have instructed the jurors that they had the option to convict him of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder. Lee admitted during his trial that he “snapped” and killed Corwin and dumped her body down a mine shaft because he said she molested his daughter. Lee was convicted of Corwin’s 2014 murder in November 2016 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
CHRISTOPHER LEE APPEAL IN MURDER OF ERIN CORWIN MOVED TO SAN DIEGO
