People v. Garton

California resident Todd Jesse Garton (defendant) was charged with conspiracy to murder Dean Noyes, the husband of his codefendant, Lynn Noyes. Garton and Lynn had dated in high school before both married other people. In 1996, Garton told a friend that he was a paid assassin and discussed murdering Dean. They had discussions about the murder 50 to 100 times over the course of one to two years, and Garton’s friend agreed to help Garton commit the murder. In 1997, Garton told Lynn that Dean was cheating on her and that he knew people who could kill him. Lynn told Garton to kill Dean. Lynn and Dean lived in Oregon. Lynn sent Garton keys to Dean’s car and to their home so Garton could kill Dean there. Garton and two accomplices met several times in California to plan Dean’s murder. They also bought guns, handcuffs, and other tools to kidnap and murder Dean. They made a couple of trips to Oregon to kill Dean but were unsuccessful. During one trip, Lynn herself foiled the attempt by preventing Dean from parking in the garage where Garton intended to kill him. After a jury trial in Shasta County California, Garton was convicted of conspiracy to murder Dean, as well as of first-degree murder of his own wife and her fetus. He received a death sentence and appealed, arguing that the trial court did not have jurisdiction over the charge that he conspired to murder Dean in Oregon.