Opinion ID: 2624500
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Death Penalty Imposed in Violation of International Law

Text: Defendant argues California is bound by international law and treaties to which the United States is a signatory, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. He argues that imposing the death penalty violates his right to life, to be tried before an impartial tribunal, to access to the courts, to protection against prosecutorial misconduct, and the right to a fair hearing as protected by these international laws and treaties. We disagree. International law does not prohibit a sentence of death where, as here, it was rendered in accordance with state and federal constitutional and statutory requirements. (See People v. Alfaro (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1277, 1332 [63 Cal.Rptr.3d 433, 163 P.3d 118]; People v. Cornwell (2005) 37 Cal.4th 50, 106 [33 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 117 P.3d 622]; People v. Harris, supra, 37 Cal.4th at p. 366.) To the extent defendant challenges the death penalty itself as violative of international norms, we again reject this claim as we have done repeatedly and consistently in other cases. ( People v. Panah (2005) 35 Cal.4th 395, 500-501 [25 Cal.Rptr.3d 672, 107 P.3d 790].)