Title: P. v. Samuels
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: S042278
State: California
Issuer: California Supreme Court
Date: June 27, 2005

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Filed 6/27/05 
 
 
 
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 
 
THE PEOPLE, 
) 
 
 
) 
 
Plaintiff and Respondent, 
) 
 
 
) 
S042278 
 
v. 
) 
 
 
) 
MARY ELLEN SAMUELS, 
) 
 
) 
Los Angeles County 
 
Defendant and Appellant. 
) 
Super. Ct. No. PA002269 
___________________________________ ) 
 
 
A jury convicted defendant Mary Ellen Samuels of the first degree murders 
of Robert Samuels and James Bernstein, soliciting the murders of Robert Samuels 
and James Bernstein, and conspiring to murder Robert Samuels and James 
Bernstein.  (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 653f, subd. (b), 182, subd. (a)(1); 
hereafter all statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.)  
The jury found true the financial gain special circumstance as to the murder of 
Robert Samuels, the multiple-murder special circumstance, and the allegation that 
a principal in the murder of Robert Samuels had used a firearm.  (§§ 190.2, subd. 
(a)(1), (3), 12022, subd. (a)(1).) 
 
The jury returned a death verdict for each murder.  The trial court denied 
defendant’s motions for a new trial and to reduce the penalty verdict.  The court 
imposed a death sentence.  This appeal is automatic.  (§ 1239, subd. (b).)  
 
We affirm the judgment in its entirety.   
 
 
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I. 
STATEMENT OF FACTS 
A. Guilt Phase 
 
Defendant was married to Robert Samuels.  On October 31, 1986, 
defendant filed for divorce.  Even after the divorce proceedings were initiated, 
defendant and Robert Samuels were cordial, and defendant continued to work in 
the Subway restaurant she and Robert Samuels owned.  However, by November 
1988, just before his murder, Robert Samuels was depressed and had a less than 
friendly relationship with defendant.   
 
On October 31, 1988—approximately two months before he was killed—
Robert Samuels went to his divorce attorney, Elizabeth Kaufman, and signed a 
document seeking changes to his divorce agreement.  Robert Samuels wanted to 
run the Subway restaurant because he was unemployed and felt he would be better 
at running the business.  He also wanted to reduce spousal support payments 
below the $1,200 per month level because he was no longer able to pay that 
amount.  The modification was never filed because Kaufman was waiting for 
Robert Samuels to complete a portion of the paperwork. 
1. The Solicitation and Murder of Robert Samuels 
 
Beginning in 1987, defendant solicited people to murder Robert Samuels 
on numerous occasions.  
 
Anne Hambly, defendant’s friend, testified defendant told her that after 
several attempts to find someone to kill Robert Samuels had failed, defendant was 
able to get James Bernstein to agree to commit the murder.  Bernstein was dating 
defendant’s daughter, Nicole Samuels.  Bernstein was apparently angered when 
defendant told him that Robert Samuels had abused Nicole.  A month before 
Robert Samuels was murdered, Bernstein said he wanted Samuels “taken care of 
permanently” because he was a child molester and batterer.  He asked his 
 
 
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employer, Charles Mandel, if he knew anyone who could “take care of it.”  
Mandel provided Bernstein with the phone number of Mike Silva.  Also, during 
November and December 1988, Bernstein asked a friend who owned a gun shop if 
he could get some weapons.   
 
On December 7, 1988, defendant told Anne Hambly that Robert Samuels 
was dead and that she planned to “discover” his body in two days.  On 
December 8, 1988, Nicole Samuels called her friend, David Navarro, and said “it’s 
done” in reference to Robert Samuels’s murder.   
 
On December 9, 1988, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call 
from Robert Samuels’s home.  Robert Samuels was found dead.  He had been 
dead for over 12 hours and was killed by a shotgun blast fired into his head from 
close range.  Samuels also suffered a blunt force trauma to his head that was a 
contributing factor to his death. 
 
Defendant and Nicole Samuels were present when the police arrived.  
Defendant and Nicole worked to make it appear that there had been a struggle in 
the house.  Defendant told the police she discovered Robert Samuels’s body while 
dropping off the family’s dog.  Defendant sought to bolster this story by leaving 
messages on Samuels’s answering machine regarding her plans to drop off the 
dog.   
 
Anne Hambly testified that she also went to Robert Samuels’s house the 
night he was found dead.  Referring to the murder of Robert Samuels, defendant 
told Hambly that she could not believe that “it had finally happened” and that she 
had given Bernstein money six months earlier to arrange the killing.  Defendant 
feared being caught and was also afraid to speak because she thought the police 
had “bugged” her car, purse, and home.  
 
At trial, the prosecution introduced evidence showing defendant collected 
on several insurance policies after Robert Samuels’s death.  The total amount of 
 
 
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these policies was in excess of $240,000.  In addition, the prosecution introduced 
evidence that a sandwich shop owned by Robert Samuels and defendant was sold 
in early 1989, and defendant kept the proceeds of approximately $70,000.  
Additional evidence introduced by the prosecution showing how defendant 
benefited from Robert Samuels’s death included:  (1) defendant kept a car owned 
by Robert Samuels; (2) she received approximately $6,000 in uncashed payroll 
checks of Robert Samuels; and (3) she refinanced the family home after Robert 
Samuels’s death, thereby gaining possession of an additional $160,000.     
 
Defendant began to live a lavish lifestyle after Robert Samuels died.  In 
addition, defendant made several incriminating statements after his death.  For 
example, when asked by Anne Hambly who Mike Silva was, defendant told 
Hambly that Silva was hired by Bernstein to kill Robert Samuels.  Defendant also 
told a friend, Marsha Hutchinson, that if she were not careful in her divorce 
proceedings, then Hutchinson’s husband might decide to put a hit on her.  
Defendant also spoke and acted in a manner that led Bernstein’s older brother and 
sister-in-law to believe that defendant had Robert Samuels killed.   
 
James Bernstein also made incriminating statements after Robert Samuels’s 
death.  He told his employer, Charles Mandel, that Robert Samuels’s murder had 
been taken care of and that he received money from defendant to pay Silva for his 
part in the crime.  
2. The Solicitation and Murder of James Bernstein 
 
On June 27, 1989, James Bernstein was killed.  The circumstances leading 
to his murder are as follows:  David Navarro and James Bernstein met in February 
1989.  Navarro testified he met Bernstein through Nicole Samuels, who was a 
friend of Navarro’s girlfriend.   
 
 
5
 
Navarro and Bernstein became friends and they sold drugs together until 
Bernstein disappeared in June 1989.  Bernstein and Navarro were together when 
Bernstein received a page, called the number he had been sent, and then went to 
meet Mike Silva.  Bernstein referred to Silva as the “hit man.”   
 
Navarro made an anonymous call to the police and provided them with the 
phone number Bernstein received via the page and Mike Silva’s name.  Navarro 
also provided the names of defendant and Bernstein to the police.  Los Angeles 
Police Officer John Birrer received Navarro’s call on May 1, 1989.  After Navarro 
provided this information, the police served search warrants.  Police searched 
Bernstein’s apartment on May 16, 1989, in connection with the murder of Robert 
Samuels.  The police also searched the victim’s house. 
 
In late May or early June 1989, Bernstein told a friend, Rennie Goldberg, 
he was feeling remorseful and frightened of being caught.  He wanted to confess 
his involvement in Robert Samuels’s murder.  By June 1989, Bernstein had 
become so afraid that he wanted to move out of the area.  By the end of June 1989, 
Bernstein was ready to go to the police and admit what he knew.  He told Navarro 
that he and Mike Silva had killed Robert Samuels and that defendant had paid 
them for it.  He repeatedly said that defendant had solicited him to murder Robert 
Samuels.  Bernstein stated that defendant wanted Robert Samuels killed for 
insurance money, and that one person had been paid but did not do the job so she 
approached Bernstein to see if he would do it.  On June 26, 1989, Bernstein told 
his older brother that he was frightened and that he was the only person who could 
“burn Mary Ellen.”     
 
After Robert Samuels’s murder, defendant told Anne Hambly that she 
wanted Bernstein killed because she thought he would go to the police and 
disclose her involvement in the murder.  In March or April of 1989, Anne Hambly 
introduced Paul Gaul to defendant.  Gaul was Hambly’s live-in boyfriend.  
 
 
6
Hambly believed Gaul could help defendant with her trouble with Bernstein.  
Defendant and Gaul had several conversations about Robert Samuels’s death.  In 
the first conversation, defendant mentioned she received insurance money from 
Robert Samuels’s death and that Bernstein was blackmailing her for her 
involvement in the murder.  In the second conversation, defendant repeated the 
substance of the first conversation and added that she wanted Robert Samuels 
killed because he had abused Nicole and she wanted insurance money.  During a 
third conversation, defendant mentioned a failed attempt to kill Robert Samuels.  
Defendant also said that she had paid for Robert Samuels’s murder, but that the 
murder was done sloppily and that she had not expected it to be done in her house 
with blood everywhere. 
 
Even in their first conversation, Gaul came to believe that defendant wanted 
his help in killing Bernstein.  Gaul testified that it was not until a later 
conversation that defendant expressly asked Gaul for help.  She told Gaul that she 
wanted Bernstein killed because he was blackmailing her.  She also told Gaul that 
Bernstein was selling drugs to children.1  Defendant told Gaul that she would pay 
for Bernstein to be killed.  Defendant spoke with Gaul five to 10 times about 
killing Bernstein, discussing payment two to four times.  
 
Prior to Bernstein’s murder, defendant called Gaul.  She told Gaul that she 
was taking a trip to Cancun and wanted Bernstein murdered before she returned.  
Defendant agreed to pay Gaul $5,000 for killing Bernstein.  Another form of 
payment was that defendant would forgive a loan made to Anne Hambly.  To 
assist him in killing Bernstein, Gaul solicited Darryl Ray Edwards.  Edwards 
agreed to kill Bernstein for $5,000.   
                                              
1  
Gaul testified that his brother had been killed by drug dealers and that he 
had been angered by it.     
 
 
7
 
In June 1989, at defendant’s request, Bernstein moved in with Anne 
Hambly and Paul Gaul.  When he moved out of his apartment, Bernstein told his 
apartment manager that he was moving out of town to avoid the police.  Bernstein 
moved in with Hambly and Gaul because he was afraid the police were closing in 
on him.  
 
On June 27, 1989, Paul Gaul and Darryl Ray Edwards killed James 
Bernstein.  On that morning, Gaul met Edwards at a bar and they started drinking.  
Their plan to murder Bernstein involved getting Bernstein to go up to an area near 
Frazier Park.  Gaul and Edwards planned to tell Bernstein that Edwards knew 
some drug dealers in Frazier Park and that Gaul, Edwards, and Bernstein would go 
and rob them.   
 
The two men separated, planning to meet at Anne Hambly’s later that day.  
Gaul returned to Hambly’s house around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m.  Edwards arrived 
approximately two hours later.  Bernstein was at Hambly’s house.  Gaul, Edwards, 
and Bernstein talked about going to rip off drug dealers.  Although he did not 
initially agree to the plan, Bernstein was curious and wanted more information.  
Subsequently, Gaul, Edwards, and Bernstein left Hambly’s house in defendant’s 
car.  Gaul was the driver.  After approximately 40 minutes, they ended up on an 
isolated dirt road.  However, it turned out to be a private driveway and several 
dogs came running at the car.  Edwards told Gaul to immediately get out of the 
driveway, so Gaul placed the car in reverse and drove away.  About five to 10 
minutes later, Edwards yelled “Now” or something similar.  Gaul slammed on the 
car’s brakes, put the car in park, and turned off the headlights.  Edwards grabbed 
Bernstein’s neck from behind and began to choke him.  Bernstein began to 
scream, but Gaul twice hit him in the side of the head or neck to keep him quiet.  
Gaul accidentally hit Edwards, which loosened Edwards’s grip on Bernstein.  
Bernstein opened the car door and jumped out.  Edwards and Gaul got out of the 
 
 
8
car and chased after Bernstein.  Edwards caught Bernstein and wrestled him to the 
ground.  Gaul held Bernstein’s legs, while Edwards choked him.  Bernstein asked, 
“Why?,” and Gaul said that it was because he talked too much.  Gaul stopped 
holding Bernstein’s legs and joined in with Edwards.  Bernstein struggled for three 
to five minutes, then stopped.  Gaul put his ear to Bernstein’s chest to listen for a 
heartbeat, but did not hear one.  An autopsy on Bernstein confirmed that he had 
been strangled to death. 
 
Gaul and Edwards placed Bernstein’s body in the backseat of the car.  
Edwards drove to a dark and isolated area.  During the drive to this area, Gaul took 
off Bernstein’s belt, which had the name “James” on it, and threw it over a cliff.  
Gaul also threw Bernstein’s pager over an embankment. 
 
When Edwards stopped the car, he and Gaul pulled Bernstein’s body out of 
the backseat and put it over an embankment.  Gaul and Edwards then drove back 
to Anne Hambly’s house.  Upon returning to Hambly’s house, Gaul, Edwards, and 
Hambly discussed what had happened.  Gaul and Edwards told Hambly that they 
had killed Bernstein.     
 
Anne Hambly made a phone call to defendant, who was in Cancun, 
Mexico, at the time, and let her know that Bernstein was dead.  Hambly did so by 
using a “code” that she and defendant had agreed to.  The code involved Hambly’s 
calling defendant to say that Hambly had spoken to her sister.  This statement was 
a signal to defendant that Bernstein was dead and that it was safe for defendant to 
return from Mexico.   
3. Defense Case 
 
The defense case centered on defendant’s testimony and the testimony of 
her daughter, Nicole.  Defendant testified that her six-year marriage to Robert 
 
 
9
Samuels had been stormy.  Defendant claimed Samuels developed a drinking 
problem and was abusive when he drank.   
 
Defendant testified that she moved out of her residence with Robert 
Samuels on October 3, 1986, because of Samuels’s drinking.  According to 
defendant, during the separation period, she and Samuels were able to generally 
agree on subjects, such as custody, child and spousal support, as well as the 
operation of the couple’s Subway restaurant.  Defendant testified that she 
considered reconciling, but decided not to when she learned that Samuels had 
physically and sexually abused Nicole.   
 
Despite learning that Robert Samuels had physically and sexually abused 
Nicole, and physically abused her, defendant testified she never wanted to kill 
Samuels and never asked anyone else to do so.  She also denied involvement in 
any physical attacks on Samuels, including an incident where she allegedly struck 
Samuels with a pipe.  She also testified that her financial situation in 1987 was 
fine, even after her separation from Samuels.   
 
With respect to Robert Samuels’s murder, Nicole Samuels denied any 
involvement in a plot to murder him.  She testified that Robert Samuels physically 
and sexually abused her and that she moved out of her family’s home because of 
this abuse.  Nicole stated that she did not tell her mother of the abuse until after the 
couple had separated because she was afraid that the couple would separate for 
this reason.  Although she testified that she told several people, including friends 
and a school counselor, about these incidents, she never reported the abuse to law 
enforcement officials.   
 
With respect to the murder of James Bernstein, Nicole testified that she and 
Bernstein met at a party in the beginning of 1986.  Bernstein would subsequently 
visit the Subway restaurant where Nicole worked and she and Bernstein developed 
a friendship.  For her part, defendant testified that she started to socialize with 
 
 
10
Bernstein toward the end of 1986.  With respect to the prosecution’s allegation 
that she was concerned with Bernstein speaking to the police about Samuels’s 
murder, defendant testified she was not concerned because she had nothing to do 
with the murder.  She stated that Bernstein never threatened or blackmailed her 
and that she did not want him dead, let alone conspire to have him killed.  
Defendant testified she felt terrible upon learning Bernstein was dead.   
B. Penalty Phase 
 
Susan Conroy, Robert Samuels’s sister, was the only witness the 
prosecution presented during the penalty phase.  She testified with respect to 
victim impact evidence and described her good relationship with Robert Samuels. 
 
Defendant offered the testimony of several witnesses who attested to her 
good character.   
 
Myrna Aaron, an outreach worker for the Jewish Committee for Personal 
Service, visited defendant on an ongoing basis.  Aaron found defendant to be a 
sensitive person and able to cheer up others despite her own circumstances.  Aaron 
testified that defendant would be an “invaluable source of support” for other 
inmates if she were allowed to live. 
 
Dawn Goodall, a fellow county jail inmate of defendant, testified that 
defendant was a “wonderful woman” who would do much more for others if 
allowed to live.  She testified that defendant never exhibited a temper and tried to 
break up altercations between inmates.   
 
Jacquelyne Gunn was defendant’s fellow inmate for almost two years. 
Gunn testified that defendant would give Bible study classes almost every night.  
Gunn testified that when she could not afford to buy an item while in prison, 
defendant would buy it for her with no expectation of anything in return.  Gunn 
also stated that defendant helped sick inmates by giving them soup, water, and 
warm towels.  Gunn confirmed that defendant would help defuse altercations 
 
 
11
between inmates.  Gunn also testified about an incident in prison when she 
received bad news and became suicidal.  Gunn called for defendant, and her 
presence spiritually comforted and made Gunn feel safe.  Gunn said that defendant 
aligned herself with weaker inmates and her friends were all people of color.  
Gunn asked the jury to let defendant live. 
 
Defendant’s childhood friend, Barbara Favilla, testified that defendant was 
fun to be with and easy to get along with.  Favilla testified that she wanted to see 
defendant get a life sentence. 
 
Defendant’s first husband, Ronnie Lee Jamison, testified about their 
marriage.  Citing their good marriage and her redeeming values, Jamison asked the 
jury to spare defendant’s life.   
 
Stephanie Hughes, defendant’s former stepdaughter, testified that defendant 
had treated her as if she were her own daughter and that they had a great 
relationship.  Hughes also asked the jury to allow defendant to live.  
 
Ellen Gurnick, defendant’s mother, testified that she had throat cancer and 
would be going into surgery the next day.  She testified that defendant had a 
normal childhood, was a popular girl, and a good enough actress to get the lead 
part in a high school drama production.  Although Mrs. Gurnick had not seen 
defendant much since Robert Samuels’s death, she testified that she and defendant 
frequently communicated via the telephone and mail.  She asked the jury to spare 
defendant’s life.   
 
Alexander Gurnick, defendant’s father, testified about defendant’s 
numerous friendships as a girl.  He recalled defendant babysitting for her younger 
brother while he and his wife worked.  He asked the jury to let defendant live.   
 
In addition, three sheriff’s deputies testified on defendant’s behalf.  
Timothy Murakami, Gary Mann, and Dennis Ransom testified that they had 
experienced no problems with defendant during her incarceration, although on 
 
 
12
cross-examination, Murakami testified he believed defendant was a manipulative 
person. 
II. 
DISCUSSION 
A. Pretrial Issues 
1. Denial of Pitchess Requests  
 
Defendant moved for discovery of the personnel records for former Police 
Officer James Nowlin and Detective George Daley, which the trial court denied.   
 
Evidence Code sections 1043 and 1045, which codified our decision in 
Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, allow discovery of certain 
relevant information in peace officer personnel records on a showing of good 
cause.  Discovery is a two-step process.  First, defendant must file a motion 
supported by declarations showing good cause for discovery and materiality to the 
pending case.  (City of Santa Cruz v. Municipal Court (1989) 49 Cal.3d 74, 82.)  
This court has held that the good cause requirement embodies a “relatively low 
threshold” for discovery and the supporting declaration may include allegations 
based on “information and belief.”  (Id. at p. 94.)  Once the defense has 
established good cause, the court is required to conduct an in camera review of the 
records to determine what, if any, information should be disclosed to the defense.  
(Evid. Code, § 1045, subd. (b).)  The statutory scheme balances two directly 
conflicting interests:  the peace officer’s claim to confidentiality and the 
defendant’s compelling interest in all information pertinent to the defense.  (City 
of San Jose v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 47, 53.)  Here, the trial court 
denied defendant’s Pitchess motions.  Defendant claims the court erred in denying 
the motions and this error also violated her constitutional rights under the Fifth, 
Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. 
 
 
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a) James Nowlin’s records 
 
Although James Nowlin was not involved in the murder investigation of 
Samuels or Bernstein, defendant sought Nowlin’s records from the Costa Mesa 
Police Department where Nowlin had been a reserve police officer.  Defendant 
asserted that Nowlin was violent and unstable and had a motive to kill Robert 
Samuels.  In support of her request, defendant alleged numerous facts including:  
(1) Nowlin was initially investigated as a suspect in Samuels’s death because 
Samuels had a brief sexual relationship with Nowlin’s estranged wife and Nowlin 
was known to be jealous and violent; (2) Nowlin owned shotguns and had been 
suspended from the Costa Mesa Reserve Police Officer Program because he fired 
a handgun during an argument with his wife and then lied about the incident; (3) a 
former policeman reported that Nowlin’s girlfriend had told him that Nowlin said 
he had done “something very bad and that he could go to prison for a long time,” 
and that Nowlin had asked the girlfriend to give him an alibi; (4) Nowlin 
reconciled with his wife on the day that Samuels’s body was discovered.   
 
The trial court denied the motion, holding that defendant failed to lay a 
proper foundation under Pitchess.  Here, even if the trial court erred because 
defendant made a showing of good cause in support of his request (see Warrick v. 
Superior Court (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1011), such error was harmless in light of the 
extensive evidence linking defendant to the murders of Samuels and Bernstein.  
(People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836.) 
b)  Detective Daley’s records 
 
George Daley was the homicide detective assigned to the Samuels case.  
With respect to Daley, defendant claims his files “might have led to discovery of 
prior instances of improper sexual advances, as the defense asserted he had made 
toward defendant.  Moreover, the request sought to examine prior instances of 
dishonesty on any matter, which might have detracted from Daley’s credibility.”  
 
 
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The trial court reviewed Daley’s records in camera and concluded there was 
nothing to disclose.  Regarding Daley’s file, the records were made part of the 
record on appeal but were sealed, and appellate counsel has not been permitted to 
view them.  We have independently examined the materials and conclude the trial 
court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to disclose the contents of Daley’s 
personnel files.  (Alford v. Superior Court (2003) 29 Cal.4th 1033, 1039.)   
2.  Failure to Conduct Individual Sequestered Voir Dire 
 
The trial court rejected defendant’s request to question each juror 
individually on the issue of the death penalty.  Defendant contends that as a result 
the trial court’s voir dire did not allow the parties to make intelligent decisions 
about whether a prospective juror was qualified to sit as a juror.  Defendant claims 
this error violated her constitutional rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth 
Amendments of the United States Constitution.   
 
Contrary to defendant’s contention that the trial court improperly restricted 
voir dire, the record shows the trial court’s voir dire was adequate.  The trial court 
asked the appropriate death qualifying questions required by Witherspoon v. 
Illinois (1968) 391 U.S. 510 and Wainwright v. Witt (1985) 469 U.S. 412, lengthy 
juror questionnaires were completed, and both sides had the opportunity to 
question each prospective juror.  There is no indication that the trial court abused 
its discretion during voir dire.  (People v. Burgener (2003) 29 Cal.4th 833, 865.)   
 
Defendant also argues that she was entitled to individually sequestered voir 
dire pursuant to our decision in Hovey v. Superior Court (1980) 28 Cal.3d 1, and 
that the trial court erred in denying her request.  As in the past, we reject this 
argument.  Proposition 115, passed June 5, 1990, enacted Code of Civil Procedure 
former section 223, which abrogated our decision in Hovey.  (People v. Slaughter 
(2002) 27 Cal.4th 1187, 1198-1199.) 
 
 
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3. Removal of Prospective Juror Robert P.  
Defendant contends the trial court erroneously excused Prospective Juror 
Robert P. for cause.  Defendant claims this error violated her federal constitutional 
rights under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States 
Constitution.  
The United States Supreme Court has stated that the proper standard to 
excuse a juror for cause based on his or her views on capital punishment is 
“whether the [prospective] juror’s views would ‘prevent or substantially impair the 
performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his 
oath.’ ”  (Wainwright v. Witt, supra, 469 U.S. at p. 424.) 
 
In his juror questionnaire Robert P. provided a series of contradictory 
answers to questions regarding his views on the death penalty.  For example, 
although he indicated that the state should impose the death penalty on everyone 
who intentionally kills another person, Robert P. admitted that he might be 
tempted to find special circumstances to be false, no matter the evidence 
presented, in order to avoid the death penalty question.  Robert P. was also 
uncertain if he could set aside his own feelings regarding what the law ought to be 
and follow the law as set forth by the court.  When asked how he would address a 
conflict between an instruction of law and his own belief or opinion, Robert P. 
wrote, “Certain beliefs I hold strongly.  For those I would have to talk to him.  I 
may not be willing to bend.”  Finally, on the final page of his questionnaire, 
Robert P. wrote:  “I feel the death penalty should be used in certain cases.  I do not 
think I could be the one to pull the switch.  I have thought much about how I 
would handle evidence that pointed to the death penalty.  I would vote for it, but I 
would not feel good about it.  I cannot say until actually faced with the situation, 
but I might become hesitant as the issue turns from abstract discussion to reality.” 
 
 
16
 
During oral voir dire, Prospective Juror Robert P. also made contradictory 
statements about his ability to follow the law.  He initially stated he was willing to 
set aside his own views and follow the law.  However, when asked further about 
putting aside his personal feelings and following the law as explained by the court, 
Robert P. admitted that “there’s certain things that I wouldn’t be willing to bend 
on . . . .  I don’t know if any of those things are going to come up in this case, but I 
just wanted to leave the door open just in case to say that some things might 
happen.  Mostly this has to do with my religious beliefs.”  Further, when the 
prosecutor asked if there were any situations where he would be unwilling to 
follow the court’s instructions, Robert P. stated, “Yes.  And I don’t know of an 
example to bring up, but . . . maybe something might.”  Based on our review of the 
record, we find no federal error in the trial court’s excusing Robert P. for cause.  
(Wainwright v. Witt, supra, 469 U.S. at p. 424.) 
B. Guilt Phase Issues 
1. Alleged Error in Admitting Evidence of Defendant’s Bad Character  
 
Defendant sets forth numerous instances of alleged trial court error in 
admitting character evidence.  Defendant claims these evidentiary errors violated 
her due process and fair trial rights under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth 
Amendments of the United States Constitution.  With respect to many of these 
claims,2 such as those showing the lavish lifestyle defendant enjoyed after Robert 
                                              
2  
As noted above, these claims relate to evidence that after Robert Samuels’s 
death defendant not only lived a lavish lifestyle and made extravagant purchases, 
she was callous and indifferent to Samuels’s death.  Evidence of defendant’s 
extravagant purchases included a new Porsche automobile; costly custom clothing 
from a store called “Trashy Lingerie”; scuba equipment for Dean Groover; a 30-
inch television and a car phone; and a fur coat.  Additional evidence of 
defendant’s lavish lifestyle included a trip to Mexico and the purchase of property 
in Cancun, Mexico; a financial investment in Groover Productions; paying for the 
 
(footnote continued on next page) 
 
 
17
Samuels’s death, there was no error.  The evidence was relevant to prove 
defendant’s financial motive for killing Samuels.  (People v. Sapp (2003) 31 
Cal.4th 240, 313.) 
 
In addition, certain evidence was properly admitted to rebut defendant’s 
claim that defendant was upset about Robert Samuels’s death.  (See, e.g., People 
v. Raley (1992) 2 Cal.4th 870, 913; People v. Barnett (1998) 17 Cal.4th 1044, 
1131.)  This included evidence showing that defendant did not pay for Samuels’s 
funeral and that she did not give Samuels’s car or money to his brother, and 
testimony from police officers who were present at the crime scene that related 
how defendant dressed and acted provocatively.  In addition, defendant failed to 
object to the admission of this evidence, so any claims with respect to this 
evidence are waived.  (People v. Lewis (2001) 25 Cal.4th 610, 673.)   
 
Also, the prosecution’s questioning of Nicole Samuels about the possibility 
she stole proceeds from the Subway restaurant was not error because it was 
relevant to the prosecution’s cross-examination of Nicole with respect to her 
credibility. 
 
With respect to evidence relating to defendant’s dressing in an unseemly 
manner and her attempt to teach a bird how to call Detective Daley derogatory 
                                                                                                                                                              
 
(footnote continued from previous page) 
 
cost of others to travel to Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Cancun; being free with 
her money; throwing a birthday party for herself at a country club; using 
limousines for transportation; and expending most, if not all, of the money she 
received from Robert Samuels’s death within one year.  Evidence of defendant’s 
callousness and indifference included defendant’s posing for a photograph while 
covered only in money; commencing a relationship with Dean Groover; forging 
Robert Samuels’s mother’s signature; and refinancing the home she inherited after 
Samuels’s death and providing fraudulent information on the related loan 
documents.  
 
 
18
names, the trial court erred in admitting this evidence, but such error is harmless.  
(People v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)   
 
As to the remaining instances of alleged error in admitting character 
evidence, even if the evidence was admitted in error, any error was harmless in 
light of the prosecution’s extensive case against defendant.3  (People v. Watson, 
supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)  
 
Finally, after reviewing the record on appeal, we believe that any 
evidentiary error by the trial court, cumulatively as well as individually, was 
harmless.  The prosecution presented other evidence that overwhelmingly linked 
defendant to the murders of Robert Samuels and James Bernstein.  This evidence 
included testimony from Anne Hambly and Paul Gaul, one of Bernstein’s admitted 
killers, both of whom implicated defendant in the murders.  It is not reasonably 
probable the jury would have reached a different result had the evidence been 
excluded.  The evidence about which defendant complains shows her to be an 
indifferent, self-indulgent, and careless parent who set a poor example.  It added 
                                              
3  
These instances include:  defendant requested that Paul Gaul steal 
paperwork for her in Mexico; defendant attended bars and clubs; defendant 
received pornographic letters; defendant used drugs; defendant allowed her 
daughter to drop out of high school; defendant allowed her daughter to leave the 
family home at age 16; defendant took her minor daughter and her minor friends 
to bars; defendant’s daughter and her daughter’s friends used drugs supplied by 
defendant while at defendant’s house; defendant influenced her daughter and her 
daughter’s friends to dress inappropriately; defendant allowed her daughter to take 
a trip to Mexico with James Bernstein; defendant’s daughter allowed herself to be 
photographed in a suggestive position; defendant’s daughter refused to return or 
pay for jewelry she had “hocked” that had been bought for her by James Bernstein 
with David Navarro’s credit and suggested that a false insurance claim be made; 
defendant’s daughter was engaged to James Bernstein while engaged to another 
man.   
 
 
 
 
19
little to the compelling case against her.  Accordingly, any evidentiary error was 
harmless.  (People v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)  Assuming defendant’s 
constitutional claims are preserved, they fail “because generally, violations of state 
evidentiary rules do not rise to the level of federal constitutional error.”  (People v. 
Benavides (2005) 35 Cal.4th 69, 91.)  
2. Alleged Judicial Bias  
 
Defendant contends the trial court made inconsistent evidentiary rulings, 
thereby demonstrating the court’s bias, and depriving her of her constitutional rights 
under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States 
Constitution.  Failure to raise the issue of judicial conduct at trial waives claims of 
statutory or constitutional error.  Because defendant failed to raise a proper 
objection, the issue is waived on appeal.  (People v. Wright (1990) 52 Cal.3d 367, 
411.)  In any event, as set forth below, after reviewing these rulings, we reject 
defendant’s claim of judicial bias.  (People v. Clark (1992) 3 Cal.4th 41, 143.) 
a)  
Handwriting exemplar of Nicole Samuels 
 
Defendant claims the trial court erred by preventing Nicole Samuels from 
providing a handwriting exemplar.  As a result of this alleged error, defendant 
claims she was prevented from rehabilitating Nicole.  We disagree.  On cross-
examination by the prosecution, Nicole admitted to signing some checks she gave 
to James Bernstein.  On redirect examination, defense counsel asked Nicole if she 
would be “willing, if asked by the prosecution, to give your handwriting exemplar 
so it might be matched.”  The prosecutor objected on relevance grounds and the 
trial court upheld this objection.  Defense counsel attempted to have the judge 
reconsider his ruling, but he stated, “You can have a handwriting expert do the 
same thing.  You are forcing one side to do the other person’s work.”  There was 
 
 
20
no error and defendant sets forth no reason for how she was prevented from 
introducing the evidence.  
b) Cross-examination of Detective Daley 
 
Defendant claims that on direct examination Detective Daley testified that 
he never told witnesses or suspects any specifics about the status of the 
investigation or evidence recovered.  During defendant’s testimony, defense 
counsel attempted to elicit testimony about references Daley made concerning the 
investigation.  The prosecutor objected on hearsay grounds and the court sustained 
the objection.  Defendant claims the prosecutor promised Detective Daley would 
be recalled and asked about any disclosures.  Detective Daley was recalled by the 
prosecution, but defendant complains the prosecutor failed to ask Detective Daley 
about any disclosures and the trial court’s rulings in this context supporting the 
prosecution exhibited bias.  This claim lacks merit.  Defendant had the opportunity 
to thoroughly cross-examine Detective Daley on this issue and to impeach his 
credibility, yet failed to do so.   
c) Disclosure of investigator’s interview notes 
 
The prosecution called John Krall as a witness to testify about an incident 
where defendant allegedly struck Robert Samuels with a pipe.  Defendant sought 
to impeach Krall with questions relating to an interview Krall had with a defense 
investigator.  At trial, the prosecution requested the defense to disclose any 
interview notes it had with respect to this interview.  Defense counsel objected, 
claiming that he did not intend to call the investigator as a witness or refer to the 
notes.  Initially, the trial court ruled defendant must disclose the interview notes.  
However, the trial court ruled it would examine the written notes to determine if 
the notes contained any work product or material protected by the attorney-client 
 
 
21
privilege.  After doing so, the trial court held that there was no work product or 
privileged material and that defendant was required to turn over the notes.   
 
Even if the trial court erred in requiring the defendant to turn over the notes 
to the prosecutor (see People v. Sanders (1995) 11 Cal.4th 475, 520), in light of 
the overwhelming evidence against defendant, such error was harmless.  (People 
v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)  In addition, any erroneous evidentiary 
ruling by the trial court does not show that the court was biased.  (Kreling v. 
Superior Court (1944) 25 Cal.2d 305, 312; Scott v. Family Ministries (1976) 65 
Cal.App.3d 492, 510 [“A possibly erroneous ruling on evidence does not establish 
prejudice of the trial judge”].) 
d) Alleged improper denial of defendant’s right to cross-
 
examine prosecution witness David Navarro 
 
On cross-examination of David Navarro, defendant inquired about his 
immunity agreement with the prosecution.  During the course of this cross-
examination, defendant asked Navarro his opinion as to “who was the person who 
determines whether your testimony is truthful?”  The prosecutor objected on the 
grounds that the question was asked for a legal conclusion and an improper 
opinion.  The trial court sustained the objection.  Defendant claims she was 
precluded from properly cross-examining Navarro because of this ruling and that 
this ruling exemplified the court’s bias.  We disagree.  When the trial court 
sustained the prosecution’s objection, defense counsel did not object to this ruling.  
Rather, he continued with his spirited cross-examination of Navarro, including 
further questions with respect to his immunity agreement with the prosecution.  
There is no showing of judicial bias in this ruling nor that defendant suffered any 
prejudice in cross-examining Navarro. 
 
 
22
e) Impeachment of Anna Davis 
 
On direct examination, defense witness Anna Davis testified that when she 
was in a limousine with defendant, Heidi Dougall, and Anne Hambly, she saw 
Dougall and Hambly use cocaine.  On cross-examination, the prosecution inquired 
into Davis’s use of cocaine.  Defendant objected to this line of questioning 
claiming it was improper impeachment.  After appointing counsel for Davis, the 
trial court allowed the prosecution to continue with this line of questioning.  The 
trial court did not commit error.  As set forth above, Davis testified on direct 
examination on cocaine use by Dougall and Hambly in a limousine, so defendant 
initially raised the issue.  On cross-examination, Davis admitted that she and 
defendant also used cocaine with Dougall and Hambly.  The trial court properly 
allowed the cross-examination into Davis’s cocaine use because it was relevant to 
Davis’s credibility.  Again, defendant fails to show how this ruling shows judicial 
bias. 
f) Cross-examination of prosecution witness Heidi Dougall 
 
Defendant attempted to cross-examine Heidi Dougall by inquiring about 
her psychiatric hospitalization and attempted suicide.  The prosecution objected on 
the grounds that Dougall’s credibility was at issue, not her mental health.  
Defendant claims the trial court was biased because it refused to permit any 
reference to Dougall’s hospitalization or attempted suicide.   
 
“[T]he mental illness or emotional instability of a witness can be relevant 
on the issue of credibility, and a witness may be cross-examined on that subject, if 
such illness affects the witness’s ability to perceive, recall or describe the events in 
question.”  (People v. Gurule (2002) 28 Cal.4th 557, 591-592.)  Here, the record 
contradicts defendant’s claims that she was not permitted to adequately cross-
examine Dougall.  The trial court ruled that it was appropriate to ask Dougall 
whether she had taken any medications, drugs, or alcohol that could have 
 
 
23
influenced her observations.  The trial court allowed defendant to inquire whether 
Dougall had taken any medications that changed her powers of recollection.  
Defendant was allowed to ask Dougall whether she was in the care of doctors, but 
not if she was ever institutionalized.  The trial court disallowed defendant’s 
questioning about Dougall’s suicide attempt, stating that it was irrelevant unless 
defendant could show some factor in the case was related to it.  Defendant 
promptly proceeded with her cross-examination of Dougall, asking questions with 
respect to her treatment by doctors and her medical condition between July 1988 
and December 1989.   
 
Based on our review of the record, the trial court correctly limited 
defendant’s cross-examination to questions relevant to Dougall’s credibility, and 
defendant’s claim that she was precluded from making any inquiry about 
Dougall’s medical condition lacks merit.  Thus, there was no showing of bias with 
respect to the court’s rulings on Dougall. 
g) Admission of check 
 
The trial court admitted into evidence a $1,500 check drawn from 
defendant’s personal account dated October 17, 1989, and made out to “cash.”  
Defendant objected on relevance grounds and that no foundation had been laid for 
the check’s admission.  On appeal, defendant claims this ruling was erroneous and 
exhibited the trial judge’s bias.  This claim lacks merit.  The check was relevant 
because the prosecutor set forth that the financial gain circumstances involved in 
the case were still pending when this check was dated, and the check therefore 
supported the prosecution’s theory of the case.  But we agree with defendant that 
the record is less than clear that the prosecutor laid a proper foundation for the 
admission of the check.  However, even if the trial court erred in admitting this 
evidence, such error was harmless in light of the extensive evidence against 
 
 
24
defendant and the minor effect this check would have on the jury.  (People v. 
Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)  
h) Alleged threats to defense counsel 
 
Defendant called her daughter, Nicole Samuels, as a witness.  Nicole 
testified that she had been sexually abused by Robert Samuels.  On cross-
examination, the prosecutor attempted to attack Nicole’s credibility by asking her 
why she waited until May 1994 to reveal this information.  On redirect 
examination, defendant sought to introduce testimony from Nicole about 
statements she made during interviews with defense investigator Marty Jensen 
with respect to the alleged sexual abuse.   
 
Outside the presence of the jury, the prosecutor objected, claiming that 
defendant failed to turn over any discovery statement pursuant to section 1054.3.  
Defense counsel responded by stating no written statement from the interview 
existed, so there was no disclosure requirement.  After defense counsel admitted 
prior knowledge about Nicole’s statements to the investigators, the trial court 
noted its frustration at defense counsel for springing this information on the court 
during the trial.  However, the trial judge never made any threats that exhibited 
bias.  Although the trial judge said he would consider monetary sanctions, he 
concluded they would not be effective.  In fact, the trial court did not prohibit the 
defense counsel from asking questions about the interview.  Rather, the record 
reflects defense counsel withdrew his question about Nicole’s interviews with the 
investigator because he realized it would allow the prosecution to elicit testimony 
from the investigator stating that she did not take any notes because she was 
following the express instructions of former counsel.  Defense counsel therefore 
withdrew his question, not because of threats or intimidation by the trial judge, but 
for strategic purposes.   
 
 
25
i) Alleged improper impeachment of Nicole Samuels 
 
Defendant claims the trial court erred by allowing Detective Daley’s 
rebuttal testimony relating to Nicole Samuels’s refusal to provide any information 
to the police about her alleged sexual abuse by Robert Samuels.  Daley testified 
that Nicole refused to cooperate, claiming the attorney-client privilege.  The 
defense objected to this testimony on the grounds that it was improper rebuttal 
because it exposed the jury to learning that Nicole had exercised her Fifth 
Amendment rights.  The prosecution claimed that because Nicole testified that she 
told Daley about the sexual abuse, Daley’s testimony was highly relevant to 
Nicole’s credibility. 
 
Over defendant’s objection, the trial court allowed this testimony, stating it 
was a “prior inconsistent or consistent statement” with Nicole’s prior testimony 
that went to the issue of credibility.  Defendant alleges that because of this ruling 
the trial judge “continued its role as either chief prosecutor or at least co-
prosecutor.”  We disagree.  There was no error in the ruling, and even if the trial 
court erred in this ruling, there is no showing of bias.  The record shows that after 
considering the parties’ arguments the trial court simply made an evidentiary 
ruling.  (Kreling v. Superior Court, supra, 25 Cal.2d at p. 312; Scott v. Family 
Ministries, supra, 65 Cal.App.3d at p. 510.)   
j) Exclusion of Jeffrey Weiss’s testimony 
 
Defendant claims the trial court exhibited bias by excluding the testimony 
of Jeffrey Weiss.  Defendant claims Weiss would have testified with respect to an 
incident where he heard Nicole Samuels shout at Robert Samuels, “Keep your 
hands off me.  I don’t want you to touch me.”  Without analysis, defendant claims 
this testimony was improperly excluded and evidenced the court’s bias.  
Defendant merely states, “The Court excluded this testimony, and predictably so.”  
 
 
26
No basis for concluding there was judicial bias appears.  Even if there was error, 
such error was harmless.  (People v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.) 
k) Manipulation of evidence 
 
Defendant contends the trial court exhibited bias by manipulating evidence 
of official files and reports.  Defendant claims the trial court did so by making 
favorable rulings to the prosecution with respect to three rulings.  These rulings 
related to the trial court allowing the prosecution to admit James Bernstein’s 
criminal file and allowing the testimony of Los Angeles Police Detective Terry 
Richardson.  Detective Richardson testified about his search on the police 
department’s computer database with respect to Robert Samuels and his opinion 
that Robert Samuels was never arrested and never had a criminal complaint filed 
by the defendant against him.  Defendant also believes the trial court improperly 
excluded Exhibit F, which was a police report relating to Dean Groover.   
 
Even if these evidentiary rulings were erroneous, such error was harmless.  
(People v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)  In addition, the record is bereft of 
any indication the trial court was biased in its rulings.  On the contrary, the record 
indicates the trial judge—as he did throughout the trial—went to great lengths to 
ensure that both parties were allowed to make their arguments before he made an 
evidentiary ruling.  (Kreling v. Superior Court, supra, 25 Cal.2d at p. 312; Scott v. 
Family Ministries, supra, 65 Cal.App.3d at p. 510.) 
l) Admission of Elizabeth Kaufman’s testimony 
 
Elizabeth Kaufman was Robert Samuels’s divorce attorney.  She testified 
that Samuels intended to seek a change in spousal support and permission to 
operate the Subway restaurant.  At trial, testimony was elicited that on the day 
Samuels’s body was discovered, defendant told the police that she had a good 
relationship with Samuels.  In addition, defendant stated to a sheriff’s deputy that 
 
 
27
she hoped that she and Samuels would get back together again.  The prosecution 
also introduced testimony at trial that Samuels had a “less than cordial” 
relationship with defendant, had missed a support payment, and had fought with 
defendant over her continuing to work at the Subway restaurant.  Under all these 
circumstances, the jury could reasonably infer defendant knew about, and was 
angered by, Robert Samuels’s intention to finalize his divorce and reduce her 
financial support—thereby providing her a motive to have him killed.  
Accordingly, the challenged testimony was admissible because it was relevant to 
show Robert Samuels’s state of mind concerning defendant.  (People v. Smithey 
(1999) 20 Cal.4th 936, 971-972.)  There was no error, and necessarily no 
constitutional violation. 
 
As set forth above, despite defendant’s lengthy catalogue of alleged biases, 
we conclude the record does not support any display of bias by the trial court.  
(Kreling v. Superior Court, supra, 25 Cal.2d at p. 312; Scott v. Family Ministries, 
supra, 65 Cal.App.3d at p. 510.) 
3. Alleged Inadmissible Hearsay 
a)  Testimony of David Navarro, Rennie Goldberg, and 
 
Matthew Raue  
 
Defendant claims the trial court improperly admitted hearsay from three 
witnesses with respect to their conversations with James Bernstein.  These 
witnesses were David Navarro, Rennie Goldberg, and Matthew Raue.  Defendant 
claims this error denied her rights under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth 
Amendments of the United States Constitution.   
(1) David Navarro’s testimony 
 
David Navarro testified that in discussing Robert Samuels’s death, 
Bernstein said, “He had done it and Mike [Silva] had helped him.  And that 
[defendant] had paid him.”  Navarro further testified that Bernstein said defendant 
 
 
28
had paid him, that Bernstein had skimmed money off the top for himself, and then 
paid the balance to Mike Silva.  Bernstein also told Navarro that he paid Silva in 
cocaine “in lieu of the money.” 
 
Despite the People’s contention that defendant has waived this issue, the 
record reflects that defendant preserved this issue for appellate review.  (People v. 
Scott (1978) 21 Cal.3d 284, 290 [“In a criminal case, the objection will be deemed 
preserved if, despite inadequate phrasing, the record shows that the court 
understood the issue presented”].) 
 
Nevertheless, the claim fails on the merits.  Bernstein’s statement to 
Navarro was properly admitted as a statement against penal interest.  Under that 
exception, an otherwise inadmissible hearsay statement may come into evidence if 
the statement, when made, subjected the declarant to serious risk of civil or 
criminal liability or to various other serious risks.  (Evid. Code, § 1230.)   
This case is distinguishable from People v. Duarte (2000) 24 Cal.4th 603, 
612, and People v. Lawley (2002) 27 Cal.4th 102, 153-154.  Unlike those cases, 
which addressed multiple, severable statements, some being exculpatory and 
others inculpatory, neither statement quoted above was exculpatory, self-serving, 
an attempt to shift blame, or even a neutral assertion.  The first sentence indicated 
Bernstein was complicit in a murder; the second suggested it was a contract 
killing, a particularly heinous type of murder, and that Bernstein was part of a 
conspiracy to commit murder.  While the reference to defendant did not, by itself, 
make the second sentence more inculpatory, under the circumstances we do not 
believe that the reference to defendant was a collateral assertion that must be 
deliberately severed from defendant’s statement and Navarro’s testimony.  
Instead, the reference was inextricably tied to and part of a specific statement 
against penal interest.  (See People v. Wilson (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 271, 277.)  In 
addition, Bernstein’s statements were volunteered to an acquaintance and not a 
 
 
29
product of police coercion, which tend to show that these statements were not 
forced out of Bernstein in an attempt to exonerate himself in the face of police 
pressure.  In any event, even if there was any error in admitting this part of 
Navarro’s statement, such error was harmless.  (People v. Watson, supra, 46 
Cal.2d at p. 836.) 
(2) Testimony of Rennie Goldberg and Matthew Raue 
 
Rennie Goldberg testified that in April 1989 Bernstein told him that he was 
being solicited by both defendant and her daughter Nicole to have Robert Samuels 
murdered and that he was considering doing so (even though Samuels had already 
been killed in December 1988).  Matthew Raue testified that in the spring of 1989, 
Bernstein said he was approached by defendant and Nicole to help them murder 
Robert Samuels.  Defendant moved to exclude the testimony of Raue and 
Goldberg on hearsay grounds.  The prosecutor argued that the testimony was 
admissible as either an admission of a coconspirator or as a statement against 
Bernstein’s interest.  The trial court denied this motion, ruling that the 
coconspirator exception applied.  Defendant claims the trial court erred by 
allowing this testimony.  
 
With respect to Bernstein’s statements made to Raue and Goldberg, 
defendant is correct that none of the statements could be admitted under the 
hearsay exception for statements made in furtherance of a conspiracy.  Raue and 
Goldberg testified that their conversations with Bernstein took place after Robert 
Samuels had been murdered.  Therefore, Bernstein’s statements could not have 
been made in furtherance of any conspiracy.   
 
Defendant also argues the statement against penal interest exception to the 
hearsay rule is not applicable to Goldberg and Raue’s testimony.  Even assuming 
the admission of these statements was error, any error was harmless.  (People v. 
 
 
30
Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836.)  In addition, assuming defendant’s 
constitutional claim was properly preserved on appeal (see People v. Yeoman 
(2003) 31 Cal.4th 93, 117, 133), it fails on the merits.  (People v. Benavides, 
supra, 35 Cal.4th at p. 91.) 
b) Testimony of Detective George Daley  
 
Defendant claims that Detective Daley’s testimony about Mike Silva was 
inadmissible and the trial court’s error violated her Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth 
Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.  We disagree. 
 
During the prosecution’s case-in-chief, Detective John Birrer testified that 
an anonymous caller had identified Mike Silva as the hit man used by James 
Bernstein to kill Robert Samuels.  Detective Daley later testified that as a result of 
an anonymous call to Detective Birrer, Detective Daley located and interviewed 
Mike Silva. 
 
Defendant argues that the trial court erred by allowing Detective Daley to 
testify about his conversation with Detective Birrer.  Defendant contends that this 
testimony was hearsay and irrelevant.  Because defendant failed to make a specific 
and timely objection on hearsay grounds, she failed to preserve this claim for 
review.  (People v. Waidla, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 717.) 
 
In any event, Detective Daley’s testimony was not hearsay or irrelevant.  It 
was not used to prove that Mike Silva killed Robert Samuels.  Instead, the 
testimony was used to explain Detective Daley’s reasons for obtaining search 
warrants and contacting Mike Silva—subsequent action by a law enforcement 
officer during his investigation into a murder.  Accordingly, the trial court did not 
err.  
 
Defendant also contends that Detective Daley’s testimony should have been 
excluded because it exceeded the scope of his cross-examination.  It did not.  
 
 
31
During Detective Daley’s cross-examination defense counsel asked questions 
about Mike Silva, including whether Silva was ever arrested for Robert Samuels’s 
murder.  Therefore, Detective Daley’s testimony on redirect examination did not 
exceed the scope of his cross-examination.  (See People v. Brown (1991) 234 
Cal.App.3d 918, 939.) 
 
Defendant also claims Detective Daley should not have been allowed to 
testify that Mike Silva was dead.  The record indicates that Silva’s death was 
relevant because defendant had placed it at issue.  In fact, after acknowledging this 
fact during a discussion outside of the jury’s presence, defendant requested the 
prosecutor not elicit details about how Silva’s death occurred.  The trial court then 
directed the prosecutor not to elicit details on Silva’s death.  Thus, defendant is 
barred from challenging this testimony.  (People v. Gutierrez (2002) 28 Cal.4th 
1083, 1139.)  Finally, assuming defendant’s constitutional claim was properly 
preserved on appeal (see People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th at pp. 117, 133), no 
constitutional or other error occurred. 
c)  Testimony of Elizabeth Kaufman and Susan Conroy  
 
 
As set forth above, Elizabeth Kaufman was Robert Samuels’s divorce 
attorney.  She testified that Samuels intended to seek a change in spousal support 
and court permission to operate the Subway restaurant.  Susan Conroy was 
Samuels’s sister.  Conroy testified that Samuels told her that he intended to 
finalize his divorce from defendant.  Defendant contends the trial court erred by 
admitting Samuels’s statements to Kaufman and Conroy with respect to Samuels’s 
intent to seek a change in spousal support and to finalize his divorce from 
defendant.  Defendant claims these statements were inadmissible because they 
were hearsay, irrelevant, and violated her constitutional rights under the Sixth, 
 
 
32
Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.  Defendant 
objected on hearsay grounds, but not on constitutional grounds. 
 
For the reasons set forth in part B.2.l. (ante, at pp. 26-27), the trial court 
properly admitted this testimony.  In addition, assuming defendant’s constitutional 
claim was properly preserved on appeal (see People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th 
at pp. 117, 133), no constitutional or other error occurred. 
4. Alleged Error in Admitting Photographs  
 
Defendant argues that the trial court erred by admitting certain photographs 
of Robert Samuels, thereby violating her constitutional rights under the Eighth and 
Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.  Defendant argued at 
trial that the photographs were cumulative, offensive, and had no probative value. 
 
“The admission of photographs of a victim lies within the broad discretion 
of the trial court when a claim is made that they are unduly gruesome or 
inflammatory.  [Citations.]  The court’s exercise of that discretion will not be 
disturbed on appeal unless the probative value of the photographs clearly is 
outweighed by their prejudicial effect.  [Citations.]”  (People v. Crittenden (1994) 
9 Cal.4th 83, 133-134.) 
 
The autopsy photographs depicted Robert Samuels’s body as it lay on a 
table in the county morgue.  The photographs depict that Samuels was shot in the 
back of the head by a shotgun and were relevant to illustrate and corroborate the 
testimony supplied by Dr. Christopher Rogers, Deputy Medical Examiner for Los 
Angeles County.  Dr. Rogers testified for the prosecution with respect to Robert 
Samuels’s autopsy and established the manner in which Samuels was killed and 
other relevant matters.  (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 132.) 
 
Nor was the probative value of the autopsy photographs clearly outweighed 
by their prejudicial effect.  “We have described the ‘prejudice’ referred to in 
 
 
33
Evidence Code section 352 as characterizing evidence that uniquely tends to 
evoke an emotional bias against a party as an individual, while having only slight 
probative value with regard to the issues.  [Citation.]  As we previously have 
observed, victim photographs and other graphic items of evidence in murder cases 
always are disturbing.  [Citation.]”  (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th at 
p. 134.) 
 
Our independent review of the photographs leads to the conclusion that, 
although the photographs are unpleasant, they are not unduly shocking or 
inflammatory.  Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting 
the photographs. 
 
To the extent defendant also argues that the photographs are cumulative, we 
reject her argument.  (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th at pp. 134-135 [“We 
often have rejected the contention that photographs of a murder victim must be 
excluded as cumulative simply because testimony also has been introduced to 
prove the facts that the photographs are intended to establish”].)  In addition, 
assuming defendant’s constitutional claim was properly preserved on appeal (see 
People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th at pp. 117, 133), it fails on the merits. 
5. Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct in Questioning Witnesses 
 
Defendant contends the prosecutor committed misconduct by injecting 
inadmissible evidence at trial and then abandoning it after the jury was 
contaminated.  She claims her rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth 
Amendments of the federal Constitution were violated.  Defendant failed to object 
or seek a curative admonition, therefore this issue is waived on appeal.  (People v. 
Brown (2004) 33 Cal.4th 382, 398-399.)  However, there is no error. 
 
“ ‘A prosecutor’s . . . intemperate behavior violates the federal Constitution 
when it comprises a pattern of conduct “so egregious that it infects the trial with 
 
 
34
such unfairness as to make the conviction a denial of due process.” ’ ”  (People v. 
Gionis (1995) 9 Cal.4th 1196, 1214.)  “ ‘Conduct by a prosecutor that does not 
render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is prosecutorial misconduct under state 
law only if it involves “ ‘ “the use of deceptive or reprehensible methods to 
attempt to persuade either the court or the jury.” ’ ” ’ ”  (People v. Ochoa (1998) 
19 Cal.4th 353, 427.)  Finally, “when the claim focuses upon comments made by 
the prosecutor before the jury, the question is whether there is a reasonable 
likelihood that the jury construed or applied any of the complained-of remarks in 
an objectionable fashion.”  (People v. Samayoa (1997) 15 Cal.4th 795, 841.) 
 
Defendant cites several incidents at trial where the prosecutor allegedly 
committed misconduct.   
a) Impeachment of Robert Birney  
 
Robert Birney, a defense investigator, testified on behalf of defendant.  
Birney testified that he had been a police officer for the City of Los Angeles for 
approximately 21 years.  On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Birney if he 
had ever been suspended from his duties with the Los Angeles Police Department.  
Defendant objected and the parties discussed the matter outside of the jury’s 
presence.  The prosecutor stated that a former colleague of Birney had informed 
her that Birney had been suspended for improper conduct with respect to a suspect 
he once booked and his involvement with an underage female related to that 
suspect.  This suspension allegedly occurred 10 or 11 years earlier.  
 
Outside of the jury’s presence, Birney testified that he recalled an incident 
similar to the one described by the prosecutor.  However, Birney stated that he was 
not suspended and had not taken any voluntary days off because of this incident.  
The prosecutor stated that she would call the source as a witness to impeach 
Birney’s testimony.  The prosecutor then withdrew her question until other 
 
 
35
witnesses could be called or she could prepare a motion pursuant to Pitchess v. 
Superior Court, supra, 11 Cal.3d 531.  On redirect examination, Birney testified 
that he had not been suspended.  
 
Although defendant objected to the prosecutor’s question about Birney’s 
alleged suspension, defendant failed to request an admonition.  (See People v. 
Brown, supra, 33 Cal.4th at pp. 398-399.)  Nevertheless, there was no misconduct.  
Birney’s admission that there was an incident that was investigated shows that 
there was some good faith basis for the prosecutor asking whether he was 
suspended as a result of the investigation.  In addition, the prosecution’s 
withdrawal of the question combined with Birney’s testimony stating that he was 
never suspended do not lead to a reasonable likelihood that the jury construed or 
applied any of the complained-of remarks in an objectionable fashion.  (People v. 
Prieto (2003) 30 Cal.4th 226, 260.)   
b) Cross-examination of Nicole Samuels and handwriting 
 
exemplars  
 
On cross-examination by the prosecution, Nicole Samuels admitted to 
signing some checks she gave to James Bernstein.  Defendant claims that the 
prosecutor committed misconduct by preventing Nicole from providing a 
handwriting exemplar showing that certain sections of the checks were not in her 
handwriting.  As a result of this alleged misconduct, defendant claims the 
prosecutor prevented Nicole Samuels from rehabilitating herself.  We disagree.   
 
The relevant factual context is recounted above.  (See ante, at pp. 19-20.)  
For the reasons stated in our rejection of defendant’s claim of judicial bias, there is 
also no prosecutorial misconduct based on the prosecutor’s relevance objection.  
Again, defendant was free to seek a handwriting sample from Nicole and have an 
expert testify as to any discrepancies between the exemplar and the check. 
 
 
36
c) Alleged preclusion of impeachment of Detective Daley 
 
For the reasons set forth in part B.2.b (ante, at p. 20), we reject defendant’s 
contention that the prosecutor committed misconduct by precluding defendant 
from impeaching Detective Daley.   
d) Alleged improper cross-examination of defense witness 
 
Annette Bunnin-Church  
 
Defendant claims the prosecution improperly cross-examined defense 
witness Annette Bunnin-Church by asking her questions about defendant’s 
character for truth and veracity.  Defendant failed to raise objections to the initial 
questions about her character and, even after defendant objected, she failed to 
request a timely admonition, which would have cured any prejudice from the 
alleged misconduct.  Accordingly, she cannot raise this claim on appeal.  (People 
v. Prieto, supra, 30 Cal.4th at pp. 259-260.) 
 
On the merits, the record indicates the prosecutor did not introduce 
improper subject matter into Bunnin-Church’s cross-examination.  Bunnin-
Church’s testimony stating that she never had doubts about defendant’s 
truthfulness does not lead to the conclusion that there is a reasonable likelihood 
the jury construed or applied any of the complained-of remarks in an objectionable 
fashion.  (People v. Prieto, supra, 30 Cal.4th at p. 260.)  There was no 
misconduct.   
6. Alleged Error in Failing to Grant Immunity to Wanda Piety 
 
Paul Gaul testified for the prosecution pursuant to a plea agreement.  He 
recalled a conversation that took place on a sheriff’s bus with defendant.  Gaul 
testified defendant stated she understood that he was testifying against her because 
he was given no choice.  Gaul also testified that defendant said, “You’re the only 
one who can cut me loose.  You already—I know you took your deal.  You can cut 
 
 
37
me loose.”  Gaul testified that he told defendant that this was not the case and that 
he was simply telling the truth. 
 
To impeach Gaul’s testimony, defendant attempted to call Wanda Piety.  
Piety was also present on the bus during the conversation between Gaul and 
defendant and allegedly heard Gaul tell defendant that he knew she was innocent, 
but that he had to testify against her in order to get his plea agreement.  However, 
when faced with the possibility of being cross-examined by the prosecution, Piety 
advised the court that she would assert her Fifth Amendment rights.  The defense 
then moved the court to grant Piety immunity, which the court denied.  
 
Defendant claims the prosecutor committed misconduct by not granting 
Piety immunity, thereby subjecting Piety to possible cross-examination with 
respect to the facts of her own case.  We have previously stated, “[A]lthough the 
prosecution has a statutory right, incident to its charging authority, to grant 
immunity and thereby compel testimony [citation], California cases have 
uniformly rejected claims that a criminal defendant has the same power to compel 
testimony by forcing the prosecution to grant immunity.”  (In re Williams (1994) 7 
Cal.4th 572, 609.)  Accordingly, the prosecutor did not commit misconduct. 
 
Defendant also claims the trial court’s failure to grant Piety immunity 
compounded the prosecutor’s alleged misconduct and violated defendant’s Fifth, 
Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the federal Constitution. 
 
“[O]ur court [has] characterized as ‘doubtful’ the ‘proposition that the trial 
court [possesses] inherent authority to grant immunity.’  [Citations.]”  (People v. 
Stewart, supra, 33 Cal.4th at p. 468.)  However, we have stated that it is “possible 
to hypothesize cases” where “judicially conferred use immunity might possibly be 
necessary to vindicate a criminal defendant’s rights to compulsory process and a 
fair trial.”  (People v. Hunter (1989) 49 Cal.3d 957, 974.)  To the extent we 
assume there is such a judicial authority, we hold that the trial court properly 
 
 
38
denied defendant’s request.  Piety’s testimony would have been cumulative of 
testimony previously offered by other witnesses, such as Susan Jasso, who 
testified that she heard the same conversation that Piety would have described.  
(Stewart, at p. 470.)  In addition, in light of Jasso’s testimony, Piety’s testimony 
was not essential.  (Id. at p. 469.) 
7. Alleged Error with Respect to Polygraph Evidence   
 
Defendant argues the prosecutor committed misconduct by improperly 
using evidence relating to polygraph examinations in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, 
Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.  The 
prosecution was allowed to present testimony with respect to defendant’s lack of 
cooperation with the police during the investigation of Robert Samuels’s death.  
However, the trial court refused to allow her to present evidence of her willingness 
to submit to, and her successful completion of, a polygraph test.  Defendant argues 
such evidence would have contradicted the prosecution’s claim that she was not 
cooperative during the investigation.  This claim lacks merit since polygraph 
evidence, absent a stipulation by all parties, is not admissible.  (Evid. Code, 
§ 351.1; People v. Wilkinson (2004) 33 Cal.4th 821, 849-852.)   
 
Defendant also argues the prosecutor committed misconduct by eliciting 
testimony from Marsha Hutchinson that related to statements defendant made to 
her about how to “beat” a polygraph test.  There was no misconduct.  The trial 
court properly admitted this testimony on the basis that it demonstrated 
defendant’s consciousness of guilt.  (People v. Jackson (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1164, 
1224.)  Even if there was misconduct, the admission of such evidence could not be 
prejudicial under any standard given the ample evidence against defendant.   
 
 
39
8. Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct with Respect to Injecting  
  Misleading Testimony   
 
Defendant contends the prosecutor committed misconduct and violated 
certain of her constitutional rights by injecting the false and misleading testimony 
of Detective George Daley with respect to a conversation between defendant and 
James Bernstein.  Daley’s disputed testimony relates to discussions between 
defendant and Bernstein that Daley overheard and recorded at a police station.  
These statements involved someone named “Dave” who had approached 
defendant at a nightclub and agreed to kill Robert Samuels for money.  In addition, 
Daley testified that the conversation between defendant and Bernstein was 
“cordial and suspicious.” 
 
“[A]s a general rule, to preserve a claim of prosecutorial misconduct, the 
defense must make a timely objection and request an admonition to cure any 
harm.”  (People v. Brown, supra, 33 Cal.4th at pp. 298-299.)  Defendant failed to 
object to the alleged prosecutorial misconduct or to request an admonition.  
Accordingly, defendant has failed to preserve this claim.   
 
Nonetheless, defendant’s claim also lacks merit.  Defendant merely 
assumes Daley misremembered or misrepresented the conversation, and that this 
problem could have been avoided had the trial court admitted the conversation in 
recorded and transcribed form.  As set forth (post, at pp. 40-42), the trial court 
properly excluded the tape and transcription of the conversation.  In any event, 
such an assumption is speculative as it appears defense counsel’s vigorous 
questioning of Daley failed to show that Daley’s testimony was false or 
misleading. 
 
 
40
9. Improper Exclusion of Taped Conversation  
a)  Best evidence rule 
 
Defendant contends the trial court violated Evidence Code section 1521 by 
permitting Detective Daley to testify, during the prosecution’s case, with respect 
to a recorded prearrest conversation between defendant and James Bernstein.4  
Defendant claims this error violated her constitutional rights under the Sixth and 
Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.  On appeal, defendant 
claims the tape of the entire conversation should have been admitted under the 
secondary evidence rule, codified in Evidence Code section 1520 et seq.  We 
disagree. 
 
The secondary evidence rule was not effective until January 1, 1999.  Since 
the instant trial commenced prior to January 1, 1999, the secondary evidence rule 
is not applicable.  Accordingly, we apply the law that was applicable at the time, 
Evidence Code former section 1500 et seq.,5 commonly referred to as the “best 
evidence rule.”  (See In re Kirk (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 1066, 1073.) 
 
Applying the best evidence rule to this case, “[i]t is well settled that where 
both a tape recording of a conversation and a witness to the conversation are 
available at trial, the testimony of the witness is not barred by the best evidence 
rule.  [Citations.]”  (People v. Patton (1976) 63 Cal.App.3d 211, 220.)  We have 
stated, “The so-called best evidence rule is inapplicable under such circumstances.  
Since the officer was testifying to what he had seen and heard, his testimony was 
                                              
4  
Detective Daley interviewed Bernstein at the police station on April 24, 
1989.  After this interview, Daley asked defendant to come to the police station.  
Daley placed defendant and Bernstein in the same room and listened to their 
conversation from a monitoring room in the police station. 
5  
Evidence Code sections 1500 to 1511 were effective until January 1, 1999.  
(Stats. 1998, ch. 100, § 1.) 
 
 
41
‘primary evidence’ whether or not ‘part of the same matter was incorporated into a 
sound recording.’  [Citation.]  In other words, he was not testifying as to what the 
recording contained but ‘as to what he observed and knew because he heard it. . . .  
[His] testimony . . . is not rendered incompetent by the fact of the existence of the 
[recording].’  [Citations.]”  (People v. Sweeney (1960) 55 Cal.2d 27, 38.)
 
Assuming defendant’s constitutional claim was properly preserved on 
appeal (see People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th at pp. 117, 133), it fails on the 
merits. 
b)  Rule of completeness  
 
Defendant further contends the trial court erred and violated her 
constitutional rights under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the 
federal Constitution by denying her motion to admit the entire tape recording and 
transcript of the conversation between defendant and James Bernstein under 
Evidence Code section 356.  That section provides:  “Where part of an act, 
declaration, conversation, or writing is given in evidence by one party, the whole 
on the same subject may be inquired into by an adverse party; when a letter is 
read, the answer may be given; and when a detached act, declaration, 
conversation, or writing is given in evidence, any other act, declaration, 
conversation, or writing which is necessary to make it understood may also be 
given in evidence.”   
 
The purpose of Evidence Code section 356 is to avoid creating a misleading 
impression.  (People v. Arias (1996) 13 Cal.4th 92, 156.)  It applies only to 
statements that have some bearing upon, or connection with, the portion of the 
conversation originally introduced.  (People v. Zapien (1993) 4 Cal.4th 929, 959.)  
Statements pertaining to other matters may be excluded.  (People v. Williams 
(1975) 13 Cal.3d 559, 565.)   
 
 
42
 
At trial, defendant sought to introduce the entire tape of the conversation, 
which covered areas outside of Detective Daley’s testimony.  The prosecution 
objected on hearsay grounds, and the trial court sustained the prosecution’s 
objection.  In addition, the trial court stated the tape was too long and would 
confuse the jury.  The trial court informed defendant that she was free to seek 
admission of those portions of the tape that were purportedly relevant.  The record 
indicates defendant failed to do so.  There was no error.  
10.   Alleged Instructional Error 
a) Definition of reasonable doubt  
 
Defendant contends that CALJIC No. 2.90, defining reasonable doubt, is a 
violation of her due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United 
States Constitution.  We have rejected this argument in the past and find no 
persuasive reason to revisit the issue.  (People v. Seaton (2001) 26 Cal.4th 598, 
667-668.)   
b) CALJIC No. 2.01  
 
Defendant argues that the trial court erred by instructing the jury with 
CALJIC No. 2.01, because it undermined the requirement of proof beyond a 
reasonable doubt.  Defendant claims this error violated her constitutional rights 
under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the federal Constitution.  
Defendant claims the instruction directed jurors to accept an incriminating 
interpretation of the evidence if it appeared to be reasonable, thereby allowing a 
conviction based on an appearance of guilt.   
 
Defendant acknowledges we have previously held that “these instructions 
properly direct the jury to accept an interpretation of the evidence favorable to the 
prosecution and unfavorable to the defense only if no other ‘reasonable’ 
interpretation can be drawn.  Particularly when viewed in conjunction with other 
 
 
43
instructions correctly stating the prosecution’s burden to prove defendant’s guilt 
beyond a reasonable doubt, these circumstantial evidence instructions do not 
reduce or weaken the prosecution’s constitutionally mandated burden of proof or 
amount to an improper mandatory presumption of guilt.  [Citations.]”  (People v. 
Kipp (1998) 18 Cal.4th 349, 375.)  We see no reason to revisit the question and 
reject defendant’s claim.   
C. Penalty Phase Issues 
1. Removal of Juror Audrey W.  
 
Defendant claims the trial court erred by removing Juror Audrey W. during 
the penalty phase deliberations.  Defendant argues this error violated her 
constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of 
the United States Constitution.   
 
Section 1089 provides in pertinent part:  “If at any time, whether before or 
after the final submission of the case to the jury, a juror dies or becomes ill, or 
upon other good cause shown to the court is found to be unable to perform his or 
her duty, or if a juror requests a discharge and good cause appears therefor, the 
court may order the juror to be discharged and draw the name of an alternate, who 
shall then take a place in the jury box, and be subject to the same rules and 
regulations as though the alternate juror had been selected as one of the original 
jurors.”  “ ‘We review for abuse of discretion the trial court’s determination to 
discharge a juror and order an alternate to serve.  [Citation.]  If there is any 
substantial evidence supporting the trial court’s ruling, we will uphold it.  
[Citation.]  We also have stated, however, that a juror’s inability to perform as a 
juror must “ ‘appear in the record as a demonstrable reality.’ ”  [Citation.]’ ”  
(People v. Cleveland (2001) 25 Cal.4th 466, 474.)  We have also stated a court 
 
 
44
may remove a juror “who becomes physically or emotionally unable to continue to 
serve as a juror due to illness or other circumstances.”  (Ibid.) 
 
Substantial evidence supports the trial court’s decision.  Here, Audrey W. 
requested that she be removed from the jury.  In a letter to the court, Audrey W. 
wrote, “I have come to realize that I have serious questions about my ability to 
vote for the death penalty should I become convinced of its appropriateness in this 
case.  I have not been able to resolve this conflict to my own satisfaction.”  
 
When questioned by the parties and the trial judge about her situation, 
Audrey W. provided statements indicating she would not be able to perform her 
duty as a juror.  For example, when asked by the prosecutor whether she was “at 
the point now where you believe that perhaps you would under no circumstances 
ever be able to impose the death penalty in a case where you thought it was 
appropriate,” Audrey W. stated, “Well, that’s where I am afraid that I might not 
have the courage to do that.  I think I explained to you on the form and also when I 
was questioned, theoretically I do believe in the death penalty.  I was concerned 
about whether I would be able to act on it.  And when I actually found myself 
faced with an actual case and having to consider that, I just found that it was—I 
was just afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do that.”  The prosecutor then followed 
up by asking, “Is that what you are finding now, that you are just not able to 
consider it?”  Audrey W. answered, “I’m afraid that I couldn’t act on it.” 
 
Audrey W. also could not separate her discomfort over the death penalty 
from the facts and circumstances of the case.  She stated, “I can’t separate them 
and that’s—that is what is causing me the issue right now.  It was not a problem 
before I was able to keep them separate but now I’ve got that so I can’t get them 
separated out.”   
 
In addition, when asked by the prosecutor whether her physical, emotional, 
or mental state was being impaired or would be impaired if she continued to 
 
 
45
deliberate, she stated that she “was not in a good place to continue.”  The court 
determined that “there was enough there to raise some red flags in my concern.”  
 
Accordingly, the record reflects that Audrey W. was distressed and 
volunteered to the court that she could not follow her oath and instructions to 
consider imposition of the death penalty in this case.  She also admitted she lacked 
“courage” to impose the ultimate punishment if appropriate under all the 
circumstances, and that she feared she “couldn’t act” on her obligation to do so.  
Therefore, after a meaningful inquiry, the trial court credited Audrey W.’s 
expressions of her state of mind and determined there was a demonstrable reality 
that she was unable to perform as a juror.  We defer to this finding and the 
underlying record.  The trial court did not abuse its discretion by dismissing 
Audrey W.  (People v. Cleveland, supra, 25 Cal.4th at p. 474.) 
2. Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct 
a)  Closing argument  
 
Defendant claims the prosecutor committed misconduct by improperly 
referring to defendant’s bad character, in violation of her constitutional rights 
under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States 
Constitution.  We disagree.  “The claim was waived by [defendant’s] failure to 
object to the statement at trial.  [Citation.]”  (People v. Staten (2000) 24 Cal.4th 
434, 465.)  The claim also lacks merit.  Defendant mischaracterizes the 
prosecutor’s statements.  The comments at issue were part of the prosecutor’s 
argument that defendant had failed to show any remorse.  We have “consistently 
rejected claims of prosecutorial misconduct based on a prosecutor’s reference to 
the defendant’s lack of remorse.”  (People v. Lewis (2001) 25 Cal.4th 610, 673.) 
 
 
46
b) Biblical references  
 
Defendant also claims that, over her objections, the prosecutor committed 
misconduct by referring to the Bible.6  Defendant claims that as a result of this 
misconduct, her constitutional rights under the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth 
Amendments of the United States Constitution were violated.   
 
We have previously stated, “ ‘[t]he primary vice in referring to the Bible 
and other religious authority is that such argument may “diminish the jury’s sense 
of responsibility for its verdict and . . . imply that another, higher law should be 
applied in capital cases, displacing the law in the court’s instructions.” ’  
[Citations.]”  (People v. Hughes (2002) 27 Cal.4th 287, 389.)  
 
Even if the prosecutor’s argument was error, such error was harmless.  
(People v. Slaughter (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1187, 1211.)  The prosecutor’s biblical 
argument was only a small part of her argument, the bulk of which focused on 
arguing to the jury why it should find that the statutory aggravating factors 
outweighed the mitigating factors. 
                                              
6  
In referring to the Bible, the prosecutor stated: “Genesis chapter 9, verse 6; 
Exodus chapter 21, verse 12; and the Book of Numbers chapter 35, verse 31 all 
repeat the same basic message: ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall 
his blood be shed, for in his image did God make man.’ . . . ‘He who fatally strikes 
a man shall be put to death.’  Exodus even answers a common defense argument 
that only God can take a life.  ‘It is not [sic] man, not God, who is to execute 
murderers.  By man shall his, murderers blood be shed.’  Although some look to 
the New Testament and quote, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord,’ in 
the very next chapter, Romans, Paul calls for capital punishment by saying, ‘The 
ruler bears not the sword—’ . . . ‘—the sword in vain for he is the minister God, a 
revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.’ ”   
 
 
47
c) Prosecutor’s alleged statements suggesting ultimate 
 
responsibility for imposing the death penalty did not rest 
 
with the jury  
 
Defendant claims that the prosecutor committed misconduct by suggesting 
that the ultimate responsibility for imposing the death penalty did not rest with the 
jury.  Defendant bases this argument on references the prosecutor made to 
defendant’s appellate rights and the Governor’s power of commutation, and argues 
that such references should have resulted in the trial court granting her motion for 
a mistrial. 
 
The first statement defendant relies on was made when the prosecutor 
contrasted the imposition of the death penalty as so-called state-sanctioned murder 
with the killing of Robert Samuels.  The prosecutor said, “It seems somewhat 
incredible that some people can’t grasp the moral difference between the taking of 
an innocent life and the state enforcing laws and taking a life.  [¶]  The defendant 
has had all of the guarantees that our system of justice has entitled her to.  She has 
had her preliminary hearing.  She has had a fair trial.  She has had a penalty phase.  
She will have appellate review.  What rights did the victims have?”  The other 
statement was made by the prosecutor in anticipation that defense counsel would 
argue “that there are others in California who have committed far more brutal 
crimes who didn’t get the death penalty.”  The prosecutor stated, “Well the fact of 
the matter is in California the death penalty is the law of the land.  That’s not true 
in all states.  Even in California there was a time when the death penalty was 
repealed and all those on death row had their sentences commuted.  Now please 
don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting that that will happen in this case.  
You cannot consider that and that’s not the reason I bring it up.  The only reason I 
bring it up is to suggest to you that such analogies and such comparisons are not 
fair.”  
 
 
48
 
Here, there is no reasonable likelihood a juror would have understood the 
prosecutor as suggesting that the responsibility for imposing a death sentence 
rested elsewhere.  (Caldwell v. Mississippi (1985) 472 U.S. 320, 328-329.)  There 
was no misconduct and there was no basis for the trial court to grant defendant’s 
request for a mistrial.   
3. Alleged Instructional Error  
a)  Meaning of life imprisonment without the possibility of 
 
parole 
 
Defendant claims that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury on the 
meaning of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in violation of her 
constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of 
the United States Constitution.  We reject this claim.   
 
Here, the trial court read to the jury CALJIC No. 8.84, which stated that 
defendant’s punishment would be “death or confinement in the state prison for life 
without the possibility of parole . . . .”  Our cases hold that CALJIC No. 8.84 
adequately informs the jury of defendant’s ineligibility for parole.  (People v. 
Prieto, supra, 30 Cal.4th at pp. 269-271.)   
Defendant seeks to distinguish Prieto on the ground that here the jury 
manifested some confusion as to the meaning of life imprisonment without the 
possibility of parole, as evidenced by its note to the judge asking, “Does ‘without 
the possibility of parole’ mean no chance of parole—ever!”  After receiving this 
note, the trial court conferred with counsel and, over defendant’s objection, 
decided to repeat its prior instructions.  The trial court stated it would reiterate 
these instructions and “see what happens.”  The trial court stated, “If they ask a 
further question, they’ll get a further answer.”   
In so holding, we follow People v. Bonillas (1989) 48 Cal.3d 757, 798, and 
People v. Silva (1988) 45 Cal.3d 604, 641, in which we observed no prejudicial 
 
 
49
error in refusals to respond to comparable jury requests for clarification as to the 
possibility of defendant’s release from prison.  Here, as there, “[t]he [court’s] 
response left the jury in the same position as when the jury asked the question—
i.e., uncertain of the answers.  It is inconceivable that such uncertainty affected the 
jury’s penalty verdict.”  (Silva, at p. 641.)  Unlike the situation in Prieto, here the 
jury expressed confusion regarding CALJIC No. 8.84’s meaning.  However, we 
reject defendant’s claim because the trial court’s refusal to respond more fully to 
the jury’s questions did not constitute prejudicial error.  
b) Use of special verdict forms  
 
Defendant was found guilty of count 1, the first degree murder of James 
Bernstein.  The jury failed to reach a verdict on the special circumstance allegation 
that the murder was committed for financial gain under section 190, subdivision 
(a)(1).  Defendant was also found guilty of the first degree murder of Robert 
Samuels as set forth in count 2.  The jury found that defendant committed this 
murder for financial gain under section 190, subdivision (a)(1).  In addition, the 
jury found “the allegation that the offenses charged in Counts I and II are a special 
circumstance within the meaning of Penal Code section 190.2(a)(3) [multiple 
murder] to be true.”   
 
Over defendant’s objection, the jury was given separate verdict forms for 
counts 1 and 2.  The verdict form relating to count 1 read:  “We the jury in the 
above entitled action, having found the defendant, Mary Ellen Samuels, guilty of 
the crime of murder in the first degree and the special circumstance of multiple 
murder to be true as related to Count I of the information, hereby fix the penalty 
at:  death.”  The verdict form for count 2 stated:  “We the jury in the above entitled 
action, having found the defendant, Mary Ellen Samuels, guilty of the crime of 
murder in the first degree and the special circumstances of multiple murder and 
 
 
50
murder for financial gain to be true as related to Count II of the information, 
hereby fix the penalty at:  death.” 
 
On appeal, defendant argues that the use of separate verdict forms misled 
the jury by stating that the jury had found—at the guilt phase—a special 
circumstance for multiple murder for count 1.  Defendant also claims this error 
violated her constitutional rights under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth 
Amendments of the United States Constitution.  Defendant’s argument rests on a 
faulty factual premise.  The jury found defendant guilty of multiple murder under 
section 190.2, subdivision (a)(3) based on the allegations set forth in counts 1 and 
2.  In addition, the trial court instructed the jury that it could consider the multiple-
murder special circumstance only once.  The jury was not misled and the trial 
court did not commit any error.  In addition, assuming defendant’s constitutional 
claim was properly preserved on appeal (see People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th 
at pp. 117, 133), it fails on the merits. 
c) Alleged instructional error in the death selection process 
 
used to condemn defendant  
 
Defendant further claims section 190.3, factor (a), which allows the 
consideration of the circumstances of her crime in the penalty phase, has been 
applied so arbitrarily and capriciously that its application in her case violated the 
state and federal Constitutions.  We have rejected this claim in prior decisions, and 
defendant has failed to offer grounds for reconsidering those holdings.  (People v. 
Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 1050-1053.)   
 
Nor was the trial court required to delete any inapplicable factors from the 
penalty phase instructions (People v. Taylor (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1155, 1179-1180), 
designate aggravating and mitigating factors (id. at p. 1180), or submit written 
findings and reasons for its death verdict (People v. Jenkins, supra, 22 Cal.4th at 
p. 1053). 
 
 
51
 
Defendant claims the trial court did not adequately define the meaning of 
the term “mitigating.”  Defendant contends that CALJIC No. 8.88 as read to the 
jury was reasonably likely to lead the jury to believe it was limited by the type of 
mitigating evidence it could consider.  We have previously rejected this argument 
and do so again.  (People v. Taylor, supra, 26 Cal.4th at pp. 1180-1181.)   
 
In addition, defendant claims the trial court should have instructed the jury 
that if the factors in aggravation did not outweigh the factors in mitigation, then it 
should return a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of 
parole.  We reject this claim.  (People v. Duncan (1991) 53 Cal.3d 955, 978.)   
d) Alleged trial court error by failing to instruct jury on core  
 
adjudicative principles  
 
We also conclude there is no constitutional requirement that the jury be 
instructed concerning the burden of proof—whether beyond a reasonable doubt or 
by a preponderance of the evidence—as to the existence of aggravating 
circumstances (other than other-crimes evidence), the greater weight of 
aggravating circumstances over mitigating circumstances, or the appropriateness 
of a death sentence, and no requirement that the jury achieve unanimity as to the 
aggravating circumstances.  (People v. Jenkins, supra, 22 Cal.4th at pp. 1053-
1054.)  Recent United States Supreme Court decisions in Apprendi v. New Jersey 
(2000) 530 U.S. 466 and Ring v. Arizona (2002) 536 U.S. 584, have not altered 
our conclusions regarding the burden of proof or jury unanimity.  (See People v. 
Prieto, supra, 30 Cal.4th at pp. 263, 275.) 
 
We also reject defendant’s argument that the court’s failure to instruct the 
jury on the presumption of life violated the state and federal Constitutions.  (See, 
e.g., People v. Hughes, supra, 27 Cal.4th at p. 404.)   
 
 
52
4. Constitutional Claims  
 
We reject defendant’s claim that the death penalty law is unconstitutional 
by failing to adequately narrow the class of death-eligible offenders.  (People v. 
Prieto, supra, 30 Cal.4th at p. 276.)  We also reject defendant’s claim that the 
death penalty law is constitutionally deficient because the prosecution retains 
discretion whether to seek the death penalty.  (People v. Koontz (2002) 27 Cal.4th 
1041, 1095.)  
 
In addition, “[i]ntercase proportionality review is not required.”  (People v. 
Combs (2004) 34 Cal.4th 821, 868.)  We similarly reject defendant’s claims that 
the state and federal Constitutions are violated by the alleged influence of political 
pressure on this court in determining capital appeals.  There is no basis for this 
claim and we have previously rejected it.  (People v. Kipp, supra, 26 Cal.4th at 
pp. 1140-1141.)   
5. Alleged Cumulative Error  
 
Defendant argues that the cumulative effect of the errors at his penalty trial 
requires reversal of his death sentence.  We disagree.  Any errors we have found 
are no more compelling when considered in combination.  Their cumulative effect 
does not warrant reversal of the judgment.   
 
 
53
 
III. 
DISPOSITION 
 
We affirm the judgment in its entirety. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BROWN, J. 
WE CONCUR: 
 
 
GEORGE, C.J. 
 
BAXTER, J. 
 
CHIN, J. 
 
MORENO, J. 
 
 
 
 
 
1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONCURRING OPINION BY WERDEGAR, J. 
 
 
Having found no error requiring reversal, I concur in the majority’s 
decision to affirm the judgment.  I write separately, however, to suggest the time 
has come to modify our position concerning whether a jury in a capital case should 
be completely informed of the meaning of life imprisonment without the 
possibility of parole.   
The trial court in this case delivered CALJIC No. 8.84, the standard jury 
instruction concerning the penalties applicable in a capital case.  That instruction 
states in pertinent part:  “It is the law of this state that the penalty for a defendant 
found guilty of murder of the first degree shall be death or imprisonment in the 
state prison for life without possibility of parole in any case in which the special 
circumstance[s] alleged in this case [has] [have] been specially found to be true.”  
(Italics added.)  We have, in prior cases, rejected the contention that the term “life 
without possibility of parole,” as used in this instruction, “confuses jurors or has a 
technical meaning that requires a sua sponte definitional instruction.”  (People v. 
Smithey (1999) 20 Cal.4th 936, 1009; see, e.g., People v. Prieto (2003) 30 Cal.4th 
226, 270-271; People v. Ochoa (1998) 19 Cal.4th 353, 457; People v. Sanders 
(1995) 11 Cal.4th 475, 561-562.)  Our position on this issue has been clear and 
consistent. 
 
 
2
Jurors, however, faced with making the enormous decision whether or not 
to impose society’s ultimate criminal penalty, apparently are not so confident 
about the plain meaning of CALJIC No. 8.84.  For example, in People v. Snow 
(2003) 30 Cal.4th 43, the jury, after retiring to deliberate, sent out a note asking 
the trial judge:  “ ‘If we give life imprisonment without possibility of parole, can 
we be assured he will never be[] released from prison[?]’ ”  (Id. at p. 123.)  
Similarly, in People v. Hart (1999) 20 Cal.4th 546, the jury, prior to closing 
argument, sent the trial court a note asking:  “ ‘Does life in prison without the 
possibility of parole mean he will never get out under any circumstances?’ ”  (Id. 
at p. 654.)  In People v. Bonillas (1989) 48 Cal.3d 757, the jury, after retiring to 
deliberate, sent out a note asking:  “ ‘Is there any way at all that a parole could be 
granted[?]  Please list the ways.’ ”  (Id. at p. 797.)  In People v. Silva (1988) 45 
Cal.3d 604, the jury asked this question:  “ ‘[D]oes life in prison without 
possibility of parole mean just that, or is parole possible at some future date?  If 
so, under what circumstances?’ ”  (Id. at p. 640.)  The instant case is no different; 
here, the jury sent out a note during deliberations that asked:  “Does ‘without the 
possibility of parole’ mean no chance of parole—ever![?]”   
Defense attorneys, aware of this potential confusion, often propose a 
special instruction in an attempt to clarify the meaning of a sentence of life 
imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  For example, in People v. 
Gutierrez (2002) 28 Cal.4th 1083, the defendant proposed an instruction that 
would have informed the jury that “life without the possibility of parole means 
‘defendant will be imprisoned for the rest of his life.’ ”  (Id. at p. 1159.)  In People 
v. Thompson (1988) 45 Cal.3d 86, the defendant proposed this instruction:  “[I]f 
you determine that life without the possibility of parole is the proper sentence, you 
are instructed that the defendant will never be released from prison.”  (Id. at 
p. 129.)  In the instant case, defendant proposed this penalty phase instruction:  
 
 
3
“You are instructed that life without possibility of parole means exactly what it 
says:  The defendant will be imprisoned for the rest of her life.  [¶] . . .  [¶] For you 
to conclude otherwise would be to rely on conjecture and speculation and would 
be a violation of your oath as trial jurors.” 
We generally affirm a trial court’s rejection of such proposed instructions 
on the ground the instruction is technically incorrect (see People v. Musselwhite 
(1998) 17 Cal.4th 1216, 1271) because a defendant, sentenced by a jury to life 
imprisonment without the possibility of parole, could still gain his freedom if a 
state or federal appellate court grants relief on appeal, or if the Governor exercises 
his commutation or clemency power (People v. Thompson, supra, 45 Cal.3d at 
p. 130).  Although rare, these possibilities nevertheless exist. 
Because the jury in this case specifically asked the trial court for guidance 
on the question of the possibility of parole, we know it was concerned about this 
issue.  Given that the jury had already been instructed and had retired to deliberate, 
its question came at a critical point in the trial.  Under the circumstances, the trial 
court should have answered the question.  Penal Code section 1138 provides:  
“After the jury have retired for deliberation, . . . if they desire to be informed on 
any point of law arising in the case, they must require the officer to conduct them 
into court.  Upon being brought into court, the information required must be given 
in the presence of, or after notice to, the prosecuting attorney, and the defendant or 
his counsel, or after they have been called.”  (Italics added.)   
Some jurors may have been concerned that the primary actor in a 
conspiracy that resulted in two murders could eventually go free were they to vote 
for life imprisonment instead of death.  By simply rereading CALJIC No. 8.84—
the same instruction already provided to the jury—the trial court failed to clarify 
the legal issue that concerned the jury and thus ran the risk that some jurors, 
erroneously believing release on parole was a possibility, voted to impose the 
 
 
4
death penalty as a way of ensuring defendant would never be released to kill 
again.  A death penalty verdict reached under such circumstances may implicate a 
defendant’s right to due process of law.  (See Simmons v. South Carolina (1994) 
512 U.S. 154, 162 (plur. opn.) [due process violated when state imposes death 
sentence based in part on the defendant’s future dangerousness when jury not 
informed the alternative penalty of life imprisonment was without parole].) 
Providing the jury with a more complete picture of the legal effect of a 
sentence of life without the possibility of parole, admittedly, may encourage it to 
speculate on matters irrelevant to its penalty decision.  We faced a similar situation 
in People v. Ramos (1984) 37 Cal.3d 136, concerning whether a trial judge in a 
capital trial should inform the jury of the Governor’s commutation power.  We 
concluded:  “When the jury raises the commutation issue itself—either during voir 
dire or in a question posed to the court during deliberations—the matter obviously 
cannot be avoided and is probably best handled by a short statement indicating 
that the Governor’s commutation power applies to both sentences but emphasizing 
that it would be a violation of the juror’s duty to consider the possibility of such 
commutation in determining the appropriate sentence.”  (Id. at p. 159, fn. 12.)   
We should apply the same approach to a jury’s question concerning the 
meaning of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  Thus, although 
CALJIC No. 8.84 seems clear on its face, some jurors may nevertheless believe a 
life prisoner will still be able to obtain release on parole sometime in the future.  If 
the jury submits a question on this topic, I believe the trial court should respond 
with a short statement explaining that, in unusual cases, future action by the 
judiciary or the Governor may permit the defendant to obtain parole, that such 
possibilities apply whether the jury imposes a sentence of death or of life without 
the possibility of parole, that the jury should assume such future actors will follow 
the law, and that the jury should not speculate on such possibilities and should 
 
 
5
assume the sentence it reaches will be carried out.1  (See People v. Thompson, 
supra, 45 Cal.3d at p. 131; see generally People v. Davis (1995) 10 Cal.4th 463, 
547 [quoting extensive instructions concerning the import of a sentence of death or 
of life without the possibility of parole and the factors the jury cannot properly 
consider].)  In that way, the jury is fully informed as to its sentencing choices but 
is instructed not to consider matters irrelevant to its decision.  A contrary 
conclusion, in which we tolerate a jury reaching a penalty decision while uncertain 
of the true meaning of the applicable penalty choices, seems unwise. 
In the present case, the trial court indicated that if the jury were again to 
question the meaning of “life without possibility of parole” it would provide “a 
further answer.”  No further question was asked.  Because nothing in the record 
suggests the trial court’s failure to clarify the law in response to the jury’s question 
                                              
1  
Of course, care should be taken not to suggest that the jury’s responsibility 
for its verdict is in any way diluted by the possibility of an appeal or future 
commutation or grant of executive clemency.  (See People v. Memro (1995) 11 
Cal.4th 786, 878-879; People v. Fierro (1991) 1 Cal.4th 173, 245; see generally 
Caldwell v. Mississippi (1985) 472 U.S. 320.)  When a jury asks for greater 
elucidation on this subject, however, some mention of the possibility of appellate 
review or commutation may be unavoidable.  
 
 
 
 
6
convinced a juror to vote for death instead of life imprisonment, I cannot now 
conclude the trial court’s failure to clarify CALJIC No. 8.84 was prejudicial.  
Accordingly, I concur. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WERDEGAR, J. 
I join the concurring opinion: 
KENNARD, J. 
 
1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION BY KENNARD, J. 
 
 
I join the majority in affirming the judgment. I write separately to express 
my disagreement with the majority’s analysis of two issues, one pertaining to 
financial motive to kill, the other involving the prosecutor’s biblical references. 
I 
At the guilt phase of defendant Mary Ellen Samuels’s capital trial for the 
murders of her estranged husband and an accomplice whom, she feared, would 
report the killing of her husband to the police, the prosecution presented this 
evidence:  As a beneficiary of her husband’s life insurance policy defendant 
received more than $240,000 in proceeds; she got $70,000 for selling a sandwich 
shop that she and her husband had owned; and she obtained $160,000 by 
refinancing the family home.  She then spent the money on such things as an 
expensive sports car, a large television, limousine service, property in a Mexican 
resort, and clothing from a store called Trashy Lingerie. 
Defendant challenges the trial court’s admission into evidence of how she 
spent the money, contending it was inadmissible character evidence.  The majority 
brushes the contention aside with this cursory comment:  “[T]here was no error.  
The evidence was relevant to prove defendant’s financial motive for killing 
Samuels.  (People v. Sapp (2003) 31 Cal.4th 240, 313.)”  (Maj. opn., ante, at 
p. 17.)  The majority’s citation of Sapp is puzzling; no issue in that case bears the 
faintest resemblance to the merry widow’s spending spree at issue here.   
 
2 
In Sapp, a jury convicted the defendant of murdering three people.  
Thereafter, in closing argument at the penalty phase, the prosecutor referred to 
evidence at the penalty phase that the defendant had also killed his mother (a 
crime for which he was not convicted), and argued that like the other murders, the 
defendant had a financial motive to kill his mother, because he owed her $60,000.  
On appeal, the defendant in Sapp contended that the trial court should have 
instructed the jury that in determining whether he had killed his mother (a 
prerequisite for using that fact against him as an aggravating circumstance at the 
penalty phase), the jurors should not infer, based on his commission of the charged 
murders, that he had a propensity toward criminal behavior.  This court held that 
the evidence did not warrant such an instruction.  (People v. Sapp, supra, 31 
Cal.4th at pp. 312-313.)   
Sapp is inapposite.  (1)  At issue there was the trial court’s failure to give a 
particular jury instruction; at issue here is the admissibility of evidence.  (2)  Sapp 
involved the penalty phase of a capital trial; this case involves the guilt phase.  
(3)  In Sapp, the prosecutor tried to use evidence of three murders to prove the 
commission of a fourth murder; here, the prosecutor used evidence of defendant’s 
spending spree after her husband’s death to prove that she killed him. 
The only aspect of Sapp that remotely resembles this case is the 
prosecutor’s reference in Sapp to evidence that the defendant had a “financial 
motive” (People v. Sapp, supra, 31 Cal.4th at p. 312) to kill his mother because he 
owed her money.  But that evidence is wholly unlike the evidence of financial 
motive at issue here, which pertains to how defendant spent the inherited money; 
in any event, this court’s opinion in Sapp did not address the admissibility of that 
evidence.  Thus, Sapp has no bearing on the issue here:  Whether, as the majority 
holds, the manner in which defendant spent the money she inherited from the 
 
3 
murder victim shows that she had a financial motive to kill him.  The issue ought 
to be resolved by applying established principles on the admissibility of evidence. 
Only relevant evidence is admissible.  (Evid. Code, § 350.)  Relevant 
evidence is evidence “having any tendency in reason to prove or disprove any 
disputed fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action.”  (Evid. 
Code, § 210.)  “The test of relevance is whether the evidence tends ‘logically, 
naturally, and by reasonable inference’ to establish material facts . . . .”  (People 
v. Garceau (1993) 6 Cal.4th 140, 177.)  Motive is a material fact.  (Ibid.) 
Evidence that a defendant charged with murder inherited property or 
collected life insurance benefits from the victim is relevant, and therefore 
admissible, when the defendant knew of the policy’s existence at the time of the 
victim’s death.  (People v. Goedecke (1967) 65 Cal.2d 850, 860.)  Such evidence 
would tend to show that the defendant had a motive for the murder.  Thus, here the 
prosecution was entitled to introduce evidence that defendant collected life 
insurance benefits and inherited property on the death of her estranged husband, 
because it is reasonable to infer that she knew she would be entitled to them when 
her husband died.  But what she did with those assets has no bearing on her motive 
to kill.  How one disposes of inherited money or property differs from person to 
person.  Some may choose to invest in the stock market or to support a favorite 
charity.  Others may decide to use the inherited wealth to indulge in a buying spree 
largely for their own benefit and enjoyment, as occurred here.  In either situation, 
how the inheritance is spent has no “tendency in reason” (Evid. Code, § 210) to 
establish a motive for the killing by which the funds were obtained.   
Thus, the evidence of defendant’s spending habits after her husband’s death 
served only to show, as defendant puts it, that she was outside “the norm of middle 
class women,” and that she was “a person of poor judgment” who was “loose with 
money.”  Assuming, as does the majority, that defendant objected with sufficient 
 
4 
specificity to preserve the issue, the trial court erred by admitting, at the guilt 
phase of defendant’s capital trial, evidence of how she spent the money she 
inherited from her murdered husband. 
The error, however, was harmless, because there was overwhelming 
evidence of defendant’s guilt.  Three witnesses (Heidi Dougall, Celina Krall, and 
Marsha Hutchison) testified that defendant told them that she wanted her husband 
dead, and another witness (David Navarro) testified that defendant had solicited 
him to kill her husband.  Defendant’s close friend, Anne Hambly, testified that 
defendant told her she had persuaded James Bernstein to hire a “hit man” to kill 
defendant’s husband.  Defendant also told Hambly that she later had Bernstein 
killed because she was afraid that he would tell the police of her involvement in 
her husband’s death.  Paul Gaul, who killed Bernstein with the assistance of an 
accomplice, testified that defendant had asked him to commit the murder because 
Bernstein was blackmailing her by threatening to tell the police of her role in her 
husband’s murder.  Given the strength of this evidence, it is not “reasonably 
probable” (People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836) that the outcome of 
defendant’s trial would have been different if the trial court had excluded the 
evidence of how she spent the money she inherited after his death.1 
                                              
1  
Defendant also argues that in addition to violating state law, admission of 
the evidence showing how she spent her inheritance violated her right to due 
process under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal 
Constitution.  She cites authority holding that “the admission of bad act testimony 
violates due process where ‘the admission of the testimony was arbitrary or 
fundamentally unfair.’ ”  (Terrovona v. Kincheloe (9th Cir. 1988) 852 F.2d 424, 
429.)  Assuming for the sake of argument that this standard, which pertains to the 
admission of prior criminal conduct by the defendant, is applicable here, I 
perceive no violation of defendant’s constitutional rights.  The trial court’s 
admission of the evidence in question, although erroneous under state law, was not 
so damaging as to make the trial fundamentally unfair.  
 
5 
I now turn to the prosecutor’s biblical references at the penalty phase. 
II 
In her closing argument to the jury, the prosecutor said:  “Genesis chapter 
9, verse 6; Exodus chapter 21, verse 12; and the Book of Numbers chapter 35, 
verse 31 all repeat the same basic message:  ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by 
man shall his blood be shed, for in his image did God make man.’ ”  Defendant 
raised an objection, which the trial court overruled.  The prosecutor then 
continued,  “ ‘He who fatally strikes a man shall be put to death.’  [¶]  Exodus 
even answers a common defense argument that only God can take a life.  [¶]  ‘It is 
not [sic] man, not God, who is to execute murders.  By man shall his, the 
murderers [sic] blood be shed.’  [¶]  Although some look to the New Testament 
and quote, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord,’ in the very next 
chapter, Romans, Paul calls for capital punishment by saying, ‘The ruler bears not 
the sword . . . in vain for he is the minister [of] God, a revenger to execute wrath 
upon him that doeth evil.’ ” 
The prosecutor followed those biblical quotations with these comments:  
“Now that’s enough said.  And please understand I’m not telling you to use the 
Bible.  I’m telling you not to use the Bible.  The Bible is not the law of the land.  
[¶]  I only read those brief quotes for any of you who may have personal 
reservations against the death penalty because you believe that it is against your 
own beliefs.  [¶]  Please don’t misunderstand because there was no other reason 
for reading those sections other than that.  [¶]  Ladies and gentlemen, . . . a free 
society requires of its citizen jurors strength and vigilance and courage and resolve 
in making the tough decision that is before you now.  [¶]  It is much easier to beg 
you to spare a life than to ask you to take a life.  That’s because those of us who 
live within the norms of society have a natural compassion, a natural reference 
[sic] for life.  [¶]  It would be very easy for you to . . . walk away, to say that 
 
6 
[defendant] will spend the rest of her life in prison.  [¶]  But there is a greater 
principle here.  If you believe that the death penalty is appropriate, then to walk 
away and to take the easy road because it was convenient or because it’s easy to 
live with, I submit you are ignoring the laws of the land that capital punishment 
should be applied when you decide it is appropriate.”  (Italics added.)  
Defendant argues that the prosecutor’s biblical references violated her 
rights under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal 
Constitution.  The majority does not resolve the issue.  It simply concludes that 
even if improper, the prosecutor’s argument did not prejudice defendant.  The 
majority explains:  “The prosecutor’s biblical argument was only a small part of 
her argument, the bulk of which focused on arguing to the jury why it should find 
that the statutory aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors.”  (Maj. 
opn., ante, at p. 46.) 
If I were to find that the prosecutor’s biblical references in this case were 
improper, I would conclude that they prejudiced defendant.  The majority is wrong 
when it says that a prosecutor’s improper reliance on religious authority is 
harmless if it is only a “small part” of the prosecutor’s closing argument.  I 
explained why in my dissenting opinion in People v. Slaughter (2002) 27 Cal.4th 
1187.  There, this court used reasoning identical to that used by the majority here 
to find that the prosecutor’s improper biblical references in his closing argument at 
the penalty phase of a capital case were harmless.  I dissented, with these 
comments:  “The majority’s assertion that the prosecutor’s improper argument 
must be considered harmless because it was ‘part of a longer argument that 
properly focused upon the factors in aggravation and mitigation’ . . . makes little 
sense.  Under that logic, prosecutors may freely refer to biblical authority when 
making their penalty arguments to juries in capital cases, secure in the knowledge 
that this court will never reverse a resulting death judgment for this misconduct, 
 
7 
provided only that the prosecutors also present an argument focusing on the 
statutory aggravating and mitigating factors.  Appeals to divine authority in jury 
arguments in capital cases are prejudicial when jurors for whom the aggravating 
and mitigating factors appear closely balanced use religious considerations to 
resolve their doubts, as the prosecutor’s improper argument invites them to do.”  
(Id. at p. 1228 (dis. opn. of Kennard, J.); see also People v. Vieira (2005) 35 
Cal.4th 264, 309 (dis. opn. of Kennard, J.).)  The majority here employs the same 
faulty logic used by the majority in Slaughter. 
Because, in my view, an impermissible reliance on religious authority by 
the prosecutor may be prejudicial even when, as here, the biblical references are 
only a short part of the prosecutor’s argument, I must decide whether the 
prosecutor’s biblical references in this case were improper.  On point here is this 
court’s decision in People v. Hughes (2002) 27 Cal.4th 287, in which I joined.  
There the prosecutor, as in this case, quoted several biblical passages supportive of 
the death penalty in his closing argument at the penalty phase of a capital trial.  
But he went on to explain to the jury that he was not trying to argue that the Bible 
provided a basis for imposing the death penalty, but only to show that the Bible 
was “ ‘not an impediment to imposing the death penalty.’ ”  (Id. at p. 391.)  This 
court held the comments were permissible:  “The prosecutor’s references were 
part of a straightforward argument that jurors should not be persuaded either way 
by biblical and religious teachings, and that the ultimate penalty decision was an 
individual determination.  The prosecutor did not imply or suggest that another, 
higher law should be applied instead of the court’s instructions . . . .”  (Id. at 
p. 392.) 
“Because any use of biblical references in argument must be carefully 
scrutinized, cautious prosecutors will choose to avoid such references” (People 
v. Harrison (2005) 35 Cal.4th 208, 248); “[a] prosecutor who mentions the Bible 
 
8 
in closing argument runs a grave risk that a reviewing court will . . . reverse the 
defendant’s conviction” (ibid.).  But here, as in Hughes, the prosecutor’s biblical 
references “were part of a straightforward argument that jurors should not be 
persuaded either way by biblical and religious teachings . . . .” (People v. Hughes, 
supra, 27 Cal.4th at p. 392), but should instead base their penalty decision on “the 
laws of the land.”  Thus, under this court’s decision in Hughes, the prosecutor’s 
argument did not violate defendant’s constitutional rights. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENNARD, J. 
 
 
See next page for addresses and telephone numbers for counsel who argued in Supreme Court. 
 
Name of Opinion People v. Samuels 
__________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Unpublished Opinion 
Original Appeal XXX 
Original Proceeding 
Review Granted 
Rehearing Granted 
 
__________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Opinion No. S042278 
Date Filed: June 27, 2005 
__________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Court: Superior 
County: Los Angeles 
Judge: Michael R. Hoff 
 
__________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Attorneys for Appellant: 
 
Joel Levine, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant. 
 
 
 
 
 
__________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Attorneys for Respondent: 
 
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. 
Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Sharlene A. Honnaka and Kyle S. Brodie, Deputy Attorneys 
General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Counsel who argued in Supreme Court (not intended for publication with opinion): 
 
Joel Levine 
16000 Ventura Blvd., Suite 500 
Encino, CA  91436 
(818) 995-6052 
 
Kyle S. Brodie 
Deputy Attorney General 
300 South Spring Street 
Los Angeles, CA  90013 
(213) 576-1334