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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A state appeals court panel has upheld a man's murder conviction for stabbing his wife, whose body was found in a closet of their North Hollywood apartment.
In a ruling released Thursday, the three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense's contention that jurors in Nick Vedol Lopez's trial should have been given the lesser option of voluntary manslaughter, along with the defense's claim that a judge erred by allowing Lopez to represent himself during most of his trial despite an earlier concern about his mental competency.
Lopez, now 54, was convicted of first-degree murder for the February 2019 slaying of his 52-year-old wife, Tanya, who was stabbed 32 times.
Lopez called 911 from his wife's cell phone at 1:51 a.m. Feb. 23, 2019, and told the dispatcher that someone had been stabbed at the home, according to the appellate court panel's 25-page opinion.
Police found the woman's naked body upside down in a bedroom closet, and escorted the woman's three grandchildren outside, the justices noted.
Lopez was arrested later that day after an off-duty sheriff's deputy called 911 upon seeing Lopez walking on an on-ramp of the Foothill (210) Freeway in Azusa with blood covering his hands and clothing, according to the opinion.
DNA testing done on blood recovered from knives found in the bedroom determined that it contained DNA from the defendant and the victim, the justices noted.
The appellate court panel found that there was "no diagnosis of a mental illness that prevented Lopez from carrying out the basic tasks of self- representation," and sought to replace his appointed attorney before trial because the defendant preferred to argue that the crime scene had been staged and that his wife was still alive when police arrived.
Lopez was sentenced in August 2022 to 85 years to life in state prison.