Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: capital murder offense

The question is a bit vague, but what I think you meant was that a person was convicted of murder with special circumstances. In that case, the defendant will be sentenced to life without parole or death. There is no parole eligibility associated with those sentences.

Even so, the California Supreme Court has stated that all murder is "capital" based upon the history of the statute. So it is possible one convicted of "capital" murder under the historical definition can be eligible for parole in 15 years, in the case of second degree murder, or 25 years in the case of first degree murder.