Opinion ID: 1375029
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Allowing Defendant to Testify In Favor of Death

Text: (52) Defendant testified before the jury that he wanted a verdict of death. ( Ante, p. 817.) He contends that the effect of [his] testimony was to compel the death penalty, and that it likely relieved the jury of its full responsibility to fix the penalty based upon the proper statutory factors. He asserts that the evidence was irrelevant (Evid. Code, § 350), and that its introduction made the verdict unreliable and thereby violated rights he finds in the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Defendant invited any error when he testified. Moreover, he offered no objection at trial on the grounds he now raises. He has failed to preserve his claims for review.