Opinion ID: 1801948
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to give a reasonable doubt instruction with respect to evidence of the Russell murder

Text: As explained above, at the guilt phase, the trial court declared a mistrial on the Russell count because the jury could not reach a verdict. The final vote was nine to three, although the trial court did not inquire whether the split favored a guilty verdict or a not guilty verdict. Following the mistrial, defendant moved to impanel a new penalty phase jury, arguing the penalty jury should not include jurors who believed he was guilty of Russell's murder. The court denied the motion. The penalty phase evidence showed that in 1985 defendant had burglarized the home of James Foster and robbed Foster and his coworker Jessie Cruz. The evidence also included testimony that in 1993 defendant had picked up his girlfriend's young son, Robert, by the hair and flung him to the ground. The jurors were instructed that in determining the penalty to be imposed on defendant they should consider all of the evidence which has been received during any part of this trial. The jurors were further instructed to consider and take in to [ sic ] account and be guided by a list of aggravating and mitigating factors, including the presence or absence of criminal activity by the defendant other than the crimes for which the defendant has been tried in the present proceedings, which involved the use or attempted use of force or violence, or the express or implied threat to use force or violence. (See § 190.3, factor (b).) Regarding the evaluation of evidence of other criminal activity, the jurors were instructed, without objection from defendant, pursuant to a modified version of CALJIC No. 8.87 (1989 rev.): Evidence has been introduced for the purpose of showing that the defendant has committed the following criminal acts. One, residential burglary, two, residential robbery, and three, child abuse, which involved the express or implied use of force or violence or the threat of force or violence. Before a juror may consider any of such criminal acts as an aggravating circumstance in this case, a juror must first be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did, in fact, commit such criminal acts. A juror may not consider any evidence of any other criminal acts as an aggravating circumstance. [¶] It is not necessary for all jurors to agree. If any juror is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that such criminal activity occurred, that juror may consider that activity as a fact in aggravation. If a juror is not so convinced, that juror must not consider that evidence for any purpose. Neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel mentioned the Russell murder during penalty phase opening statements or closing arguments. However, during deliberations on the afternoon of June 13, 1996, the jurors requested a readback of the testimony of Dr. Dollinger, the forensic pathologist who had examined the bodies of the Mercks and Russell. The readback commenced the following morning. Defendant objected to the readback of any testimony about victim Russell, arguing such testimony would be irrelevant and prejudicial, given the mistrial on the Russell charge. After some discussion, the court sent a note to the jurors asking if they wished the readback to include testimony about Russell. When the jurors responded in the affirmative, defendant moved for a mistrial. The court denied the motion, reasoning that those jurors who believed defendant's guilt of Russell's murder had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt were permitted to consider that murder as an aggravating factor in the penalty phase. The testimony was reread. That afternoon, the jury returned its verdicts of death for the murder of Alma Merck and life without the possibility of parole for the murder of Clifford Merck. Defendant contends the trial court had a duty to instruct on its own motion that the jurors could not consider evidence of the Russell murder in aggravation unless they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had committed that murder. He asserts the instruction regarding other criminal activity was erroneous because it failed to identify the Russell murder as criminal activity that could be considered only if proved beyond a reasonable doubt. (29) Section 190.3, factor (b), permits the jury to consider in aggravation violent criminal activity by the defendant other than the crimes of which he or she has been convicted in the capital trial, regardless of whether such activity led to a conviction, but precludes consideration of crimes for which the defendant has been prosecuted and acquitted. ( People v. Benavides, supra, 35 Cal.4th at pp. 112-113; People v. Douglas (1990) 50 Cal.3d 468, 526-532 [268 Cal.Rptr. 126, 788 P.2d 640], disapproved on other grounds in People v. Marshall (1990) 50 Cal.3d 907, 933, fn. 4 [269 Cal.Rptr. 269, 790 P.2d 676]; People v. Melton (1988) 44 Cal.3d 713, 754-756 [244 Cal.Rptr. 867, 750 P.2d 741].) Because evidence of other crimes may be particularly important to a jury considering penalty, state law provides that no juror may consider such evidence unless first convinced of its truth beyond a reasonable doubt. ( People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th at p. 132; People v. Robertson (1982) 33 Cal.3d 21, 54 [188 Cal.Rptr. 77, 655 P.2d 279]; see also People v. Stanworth (1969) 71 Cal.2d 820, 840 [80 Cal.Rptr. 49, 457 P.2d 889] [construing pre-1977 version of § 190.3]; People v. Polk (1965) 63 Cal.2d 443, 450-451 [47 Cal.Rptr. 1, 406 P.2d 641] [same].) There is no requirement, however, that penalty phase jurors unanimously agree on the existence of aggravating factors that support the imposition of the death penalty, including the existence of other criminal activity under factor (b). ( People v. Lewis, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 533; People v. Miranda (1987) 44 Cal.3d 57, 99 [241 Cal.Rptr. 594, 744 P.2d 1127], disapproved on other grounds in People v. Marshall, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 933, fn. 4.) Accordingly, it would have been proper for those jurors who believed defendant's guilt of Russell's murder had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt to consider that murder as an aggravating factor to be weighed against the mitigating evidence in determining the appropriate penalty. (See People v. Caro (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1035, 1057-1058 [251 Cal.Rptr. 757, 761 P.2d 680]; People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 99.) (30) We have long held that the trial court must give a reasonable doubt instruction on its own motion whenever evidence of other crimes is presented at either the guilt or penalty phases of a capital trial and the evidence is introduced or referred to as an aggravating factor pursuant to section 190.3, factor (b). ( People v. Robertson, supra, 33 Cal.3d at pp. 60-63 (conc. opn. of Broussard, J.); see also id. at pp. 53-55 [evidence presented at guilt phase]; People v. Yeoman, supra, 31 Cal.4th at p. 132; People v. Pinholster (1992) 1 Cal.4th 865, 965-967 [4 Cal.Rptr.2d 765, 824 P.2d 571] [penalty phase]; People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at pp. 97-98 [same]; People v. Stanworth, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 841 [same]; People v. McClellan (1969) 71 Cal.2d 793, 806-807 [80 Cal.Rptr. 31, 457 P.2d 871] [guilt phase; construing pre-1977 law]; People v. Polk, supra, 63 Cal.2d at pp. 450-451 [penalty phase]; accord, People v. Champion (1995) 9 Cal.4th 879, 949 [39 Cal.Rptr.2d 547, 891 P.2d 93] [guilt phase], disapproved on another point in People v. Ray (1996) 13 Cal.4th 313, 369, fn. 2 [52 Cal.Rptr.2d 296, 914 P.2d 846] (conc. opn. of George, C. J., joined by a majority of the court).) We have further held that when such evidence is presented at either phase but is neither introduced nor referred to as an aggravating factor under factor (b) at the penalty phase, there is no sua sponte duty to instruct on reasonable doubt. [29] (E.g., People v. Benavides, supra, 35 Cal.4th at p. 113 [guilt phase]; People v. Pinholster, supra, 1 Cal.4th at p. 967 [same]; People v. Rich (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1036, 1121 [248 Cal.Rptr. 510, 755 P.2d 960] [same]; People v. Williams (1988) 44 Cal.3d 883, 958-959 [245 Cal.Rptr. 336, 751 P.2d 395] [guilt, sanity and penalty phases]; see also People v. Cox (2003) 30 Cal.4th 916, 964 [135 Cal.Rptr.2d 272, 70 P.3d 277] [no sua sponte duty to instruct on reasonable doubt with respect to guilt phase evidence not `clearly introduced' under factor (b), quoting People v. Maury (2003) 30 Cal.4th 342, 443 [133 Cal.Rptr.2d 561, 68 P.3d 1]], disapproved on other grounds in People v. Doolin, supra, 45 Cal.4th at p. 421, fn. 22.) Here, evidence of the Russell murder was not introduced as an aggravating factor, and neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel referred to it as an aggravating factor during opening statements or closing arguments. The only reference to the Russell murder during the penalty phase occurred when, at the jury's request, testimony about the Russell murder was included in the readback of Dr. Dollinger's testimony. Even were we to conclude, however, that this constituted a reference to the Russell murder as an aggravating factor sufficient to trigger a sua sponte duty to instruct that individual jurors could not consider evidence of that murder in aggravation unless convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of defendant's guilt, any error in failing to give such an instruction was harmless. At the penalty phase of a capital case, the failure to instruct that other criminal acts may not be considered in aggravation unless proved beyond a reasonable doubt is not error of federal constitutional dimension. ( People v. Brown (1988) 46 Cal.3d 432, 440 [250 Cal.Rptr. 604, 758 P.2d 1135]; People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 98.) Any error here was less serious than the failure to give any reasonable doubt instruction at all; here, such an instruction was given, it just was not expressly related to the Russell murder. In any event, whether or not the federal Constitution is implicated, we find no basis for reversal. As we have explained, state law error at the penalty phase of a capital case requires reversal only when there is a reasonable (i.e., realistic) possibility the error affected the verdict. ( People v. Brown, supra, 46 Cal.3d at pp. 447-448.) That standard is the same, in substance and effect, as the harmless-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard of Chapman v. California, supra, 386 U.S. at page 24. ( People v. Jones, supra, 29 Cal.4th at p. 1264, fn. 11; People v. Ochoa (1998) 19 Cal.4th 353, 479 [79 Cal.Rptr.2d 408, 966 P.2d 442].) Any instructional error was harmless under either standard. Defendant contends he was prejudiced because the instructions given permitted even those jurors who did not find his guilt of Russell's murder proved beyond a reasonable doubt to consider that murder as an aggravating factor at the penalty phase. He further posits that the Russell murder very well may have been the deciding factor that tipped the scales in favor of the death penalty for those jurors. We find this scenario unrealistic for several reasons. First, as noted above, the jurors were instructed not to consider as an aggravating factor any criminal activity other than residential burglary, residential robbery, and child abuse, and to consider even those acts only if they were proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The direction that only the enumerated criminal acts could be considered in aggravation was reinforced because the court instructed on the elements of burglary, robbery and child abuse but did not instruct on the elements of any other offense. Moreover, the instruction that laid out the aggravating and mitigating factors stated that the jury could consider only criminal activity other than the crimes for which the defendant has been tried in the present proceedings. Defendant had been tried for the Russell murder in the present proceeding; he just had not been convicted. [30] Finally, the jury was told that the only factors that can be considered by you as aggravating factors are those upon which you have previously been instructed. The instructions as a whole then, reasonably read, excluded the Russell murder from the other criminal activity that could be considered in aggravation. We must presume the jurors followed these instructions, unless the record leads us to believe otherwise. ( People v. Smith, supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 517; People v. Waidla, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 725.) Here, it is possible, though unlikely, that the trial court's acquiescence in the jurors' request to have Dr. Dollinger's testimony about Russell's autopsy read back during the penalty phase deliberations may have led the jurors to believe (correctly, as noted above) that, contrary to the instructions, they could consider the Russell murder as an aggravating circumstance. Even assuming that was the case, however, we find it extremely unlikely that individual jurors then believed they could consider the Russell murder as an aggravating factor even if it had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, the most logical response to the absence of a specific instruction would have been to conclude that the Russell murder was subject to the same reasonable doubt standard as the other criminal activity included in the instruction based on CALJIC No. 8.87. After all, the trial court's acquiescence in the readback request intimated nothing one way or the other about the standard under which the evidence of Russell's murder was to be judged. Nor would anything in counsel's argument have misled the jurors on this point; as explained, neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel mentioned the Russell murder in summation. Furthermore, even assuming the jurors misunderstood the applicable standard, we find no realistic possibility that consideration of the Russell murder by those jurors who concluded that murder had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt would have caused those jurors to vote for the death penalty when they otherwise might not have done so. During the guilt phase deliberations, after the jurors informed the court that they could not agree on defendant's guilt of Russell's murder, the court brought the jurors into the courtroom and asked the foreman and each juror whether he or she felt further deliberations would result in a verdict. After the jurors had responded in the negative and had returned to the jury room, the prosecutor remarked that the jurors sounded extremely emphatic, and the court commented that the foreman was pretty adamant about the jurors having basically taken their relative positions. It seems highly unlikely that a juror who emphatic[ally] or adamant[ly] believed defendant's guilt of Russell's murder had not been proved would then turn around and use that murder as the deciding factor in the penalty calculus. Moreover, as noted above, the aggravating evidence aside from Russell's murder was voluminous, while the mitigating evidence was not particularly strong. Even defense counsel acknowledged in closing argument, without referring to Russell's murder, that the jurors reasonably might find that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. Here, the record reflects that the jurors carefully weighed the difference between how Alma and Clifford were murdered in deciding to impose the death penalty for Alma's murder and life without possibility of parole for Clifford's murder. The difference between the verdicts suggests that even those jurors who believed beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant murdered Russell did not use that fact to vote for death. It therefore is even more unlikely that those jurors who had not been willing to vote for guilt on the Russell murder count then used that evidence to vote for death with regard to Alma's murder but not with regard to Clifford's. For all of these reasons, we conclude there is no reasonable possibility that any instructional error affected the penalty verdict ( People v. Brown, supra, 46 Cal.3d at pp. 447-448), and that any such error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt ( Chapman v. California, supra, 386 U.S. at p. 24). [31]