Opinion ID: 2611109
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Defendant's Failure to Testify.

Text: (11) Defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to instruct sua sponte that no adverse inference should be drawn from his failure to testify at the penalty phase. We recently rejected the same contention in People v. Gates (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1168, 1208-1209 [240 Cal. Rptr. 666, 743 P.2d 301]; People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at page 107; and People v. Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d at pages 757-758, where we reaffirmed the well-established California rule that instructions against adverse inferences from a defendant's failure to testify need only be given upon his request.
Defendant cites a number of instances in which the prosecutor allegedly committed misconduct, but defendant failed to raise any objection at trial. (12) We note at the outset that under the rule of People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d at pages 27-34, a defendant must object and seek a curative admonition to preserve the point for appeal. If he has not done so, we will reach the point only if the misconduct is such that the harm could not have been cured by a timely admonition. Then and only then will we reach the issue of whether, on the whole record, the harm resulted in a miscarriage of justice within the meaning of article VI, section 13 of the California Constitution. (27 Cal.3d at p. 34.) We nevertheless consider each claim on the merits to forestall an ineffectiveness of counsel contention based on the failure to object at trial. (13) We begin by noting that the prosecutor has a wide-ranging right to discuss the case in closing argument. He has the right to fully state his views as to what the evidence shows and to urge whatever conclusions he deems proper. Opposing counsel may not complain on appeal if the reasoning is faulty or the deductions are illogical because these are matters for the jury to determine. ( People v. Beivelman (1968) 70 Cal.2d 60, 76-77 [73 Cal. Rptr. 521, 447 P.2d 913], overruled on other grounds in People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d at pp. 33-34.) The prosecutor may not, however, argue facts or inferences not based on the evidence presented. ( People v. Bolton (1979) 23 Cal.3d 208, 212-213 [152 Cal. Rptr. 141, 589 P.2d 396].) (14) Defendant objects to the prosecutor's statements during closing argument about what was going on in the victim's mind during the last moments of his life and what his life and family must have been like. [8] Defendant asserts that such statements amounted to raising facts not in evidence. We find no impropriety in that regard. The evidence established that there were children's toys in the victim's bedroom where his body was found; it was reasonable to infer that they were there for his children's use. To the extent that the argument was inviting the jurors to put themselves in the shoes of the victim, we have found such an appeal appropriate at the penalty phase because there the jury decides a question the resolution of which turns not only on the facts, but on the jury's moral assessment of those facts as they reflect on whether defendant should be put to death. It is not only appropriate, but necessary, that the jury weigh the sympathetic elements of defendant's background against those that may offend the conscience. [Citations.] In this process, one of the most significant considerations is the nature of the underlying crime. (See Pen. Code, § 190.3, [factor] (a).) Hence assessment of the offense from the victim's viewpoint would appear germane to the task of sentencing. ( People v. Haskett (1982) 30 Cal.3d 841, 863-864 [180 Cal. Rptr. 640, 640 P.2d 776]; see also People v. Fields (1983) 35 Cal.3d 329, 362, fn. 14 [197 Cal. Rptr. 803, 673 P.2d 680]; People v. Ghent (1987) 43 Cal.3d 739, 771-772 [239 Cal. Rptr. 82, 739 P.2d 1250].) We cautioned, however, that the jury should not be given the impression that emotion may reign over reason. The court must therefore strike a careful balance between the probative and the prejudicial. It should allow evidence and argument on emotional albeit relevant subjects that could provide legitimate reasons to sway the jury to show mercy or to impose the ultimate sanction. But irrelevant information or inflammatory rhetoric that diverts the jury's attention from its proper role, or invites an irrational, purely subjective response, should be curtailed. ( People v. Haskett, supra, 30 Cal.3d at p. 864.) The United States Supreme Court appears to have had similar principles in mind in Booth v. Maryland (1987) 482 U.S. 496 [96 L.Ed.2d 440, 107 S.Ct. 2529] and South Carolina v. Gathers (1989) 490 U.S. 805 [104 L.Ed.2d 876, 109 S.Ct. 2207]. In Booth, the court held that the admission of victim impact statements in capital sentencing proceedings violated the principle that a sentence of death must be related to the moral culpability of the defendant. In Gathers, the court condemned the prosecutor's extensive references during argument to the victim's papers that had been strewn about. The prosecutor's argument went well beyond the circumstances of the crime  i.e., the fact that the papers had been strewn about  in reading to the jury the entire text of the Game Guy's Prayer and in referring to the fact that one of the papers was a voter's registration card. The content of these papers had no relevance to the circumstances of the crime and provided no information relevant to the defendant's moral culpability. The defendant had brutally attacked and killed the victim after the latter rebuffed the defendant's attempt to initiate a conversation while sitting on a park bench. The prosecutor's references in this case to the victim and his family were more fleeting and restrained than those condemned in Booth and Gathers. However, even if such references constituted error under Booth and Gathers, we do not read those cases as establishing a rule that such error is reversible per se. The United States Supreme Court explained in Rose v. Clark (1986) 478 U.S. 570 [92 L.Ed.2d 460, 106 S.Ct. 3101] that the general rule is that errors of federal constitutional dimension are subject to a harmless-error analysis under the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt test of Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18 [17 L.Ed.2d 705, 87 S.Ct. 824, 24 A.L.R.3d 1065]. In our view, that rule governs here. Under the Chapman test, the impropriety was nonprejudicial. The objectionable references were relatively brief in the context of the entire argument. At most they consumed two out of a total of thirteen pages of transcript of the argument. Moreover, they were insignificant in light of the emphasis put on defendant's four prior robbery convictions, the execution-style killing of the victim in his home, and the lack of any significant mitigating circumstances. We are convinced that any error under Booth and Gathers was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. (15) Defendant next objects to the prosecutor's argument that defendant killed the victim to avoid detection for the crime of robbery. This was, however, a permissible inference based on the evidence presented. The fact that other inferences could also have been drawn does not invalidate the argument or render it impermissible. (16) Defendant argues that the prosecutor improperly appealed to the patriotism of the individual jurors in referring to the Declaration of Independence and arguing that Milton Estell was entitled to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The prosecutor was merely stating the obvious, but if there were error it clearly was harmless.
(17) Defendant argues that the cumulative effect of errors committed during the penalty phase requires reversal. We do not agree. To the extent that we have found any error, it certainly does not raise a reasonable possibility that the jury might have reached a more favorable result had such error or errors not occurred. (See People v. Brown (1988) 46 Cal.3d 432, 448 [250 Cal. Rptr. 604, 758 P.2d 1135].)
Defendant contends that he should be given proportionality review on both an intracase and intercase basis. (18) We have held in numerous cases that intercase proportionality review is not required. (See, e.g., People v. Howard (1988) 44 Cal.3d 375, 444-446 [243 Cal. Rptr. 842, 749 P.2d 279]; People v. Johnson, supra, 47 Cal.3d at p. 1253.) (19) As to intracase review, defendant relies on People v. Dillon (1983) 34 Cal.3d 441 [194 Cal. Rptr. 390, 668 P.2d 697] in arguing that the death penalty is disproportionate to his culpability, pursuant to article I, section 17 of the California Constitution. Reliance on Dillon will not aid defendant. In Dillon, an immature 17-year-old defendant, who shot and killed his victim out of fear and panic, was sentenced to life in prison despite the view of judge and jury that the sentence was excessive in relation to his true culpability. (34 Cal.3d at p. 487.) Here, by contrast, defendant entered the victim's home under the guise of buying his car, hog-tied and gagged him, and then shot and stabbed him in cold blood. We do not find the death penalty disproportionate to defendant's culpability.
(20) Defendant contends the case must be remanded for a new hearing on the application for modification of verdict because the court considered matters from the probation report that had not been presented to the jury. After hearing argument from both sides the court ruled as follows: Pursuant to Penal Code section 190.4, subsection (e), I have made an independent review of the evidence. I have taken into account and been guided by the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. I find that the jury's findings and verdict are according to the law and the evidence. I find that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances. My reasons for this are as follows: That this 32-year-old defendant has shown himself to be a hostile and violent man. He has been either incarcerated or on parole most of his adult life. And even before he reached adulthood he had such a severe problem in the community that Youth Authority confinement was needed. The records indicate that once before he was responsible for the death of another human being. The victim was not the defendant's enemy. He was no threat to him, but he was, rather a citizen attempting to sell a car. The community has not only suffered serious loss by reason of this poor man's death, but his children have likewise suffered a great loss. Perhaps the greatest loss of all. My perusal of the record does not reveal any significant or substantial mitigating circumstances that could possibly outweigh the aggravation involved in this case. In my view the death penalty, as recommended by the jury is appropriate. This is a case in which the victim was brutally killed in execution style in his own home during a robbery while the victim was unable to resist, and for these reasons the motion for new trial is denied. .... .... .... .... .... And so that the record is clear, I decline to modify the verdict of death heretofore decreed by the jury. Although the court was required to read the probation report before sentencing defendant on the robbery conviction (§ 1203, subd. (b)), it should not have read and considered the probation report in ruling on the application for modification of verdict. Under section 190.4, subdivision (e), the court is directed to review the evidence presented to the jury; a probation report is not presented to the jury. (See People v. Williams (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1268, 1329 [248 Cal. Rptr. 834, 756 P.2d 221].) In capital cases where the defendant has been convicted of other offenses requiring a probation report, the preferable procedure is to defer reading the probation report until after ruling on the automatic application for modification of verdict. This will ensure that the probation report does not influence the ruling on the section 190.4, subdivision (e) motion and hence will avoid the issue raised here. The same is true of victim impact statements which are permitted by section 1191.1. Such statements are not to be considered by the court in ruling on the section 190.4, subdivision (e) motion. In People v. Williams, supra, 45 Cal.3d at pages 1329-1330, the court had read the probation report before ruling on the application for modification of verdict, but we assumed that it was not influenced by the report in ruling on the application. We further noted that even if the report had been considered, it did not work any prejudice to defendant. The same is not true in this case. Here, by contrast, the probation report contained prejudicial information about defendant's juvenile record and prior involvement in a homicide  information that would not otherwise have been known. Moreover, the record reveals that the court referred to this information in stating its reasons for denial of the application. Accordingly, we conclude that the matter must be remanded for a new hearing on the application for modification of verdict. Preferably, the trial judge, Judge Elsworth Beam, should rehear the application on the basis of the record certified to this court. If, however, he is unavailable, the matter may be heard before another judge of the same court. (See People v. Sheldon (1989) 48 Cal.3d 935, 962-963 [258 Cal. Rptr. 242, 771 P.2d 1330]; People v. Brown (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1247, 1264, fn. 7 [248 Cal. Rptr. 817, 756 P.2d 204].)