Opinion ID: 1130099
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Multiple Use of Facts.

Text: (19) Defendant contends that the sentencing scheme violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution insofar as it directs that any special circumstance found true at the guilt phase be considered in aggravation at the penalty phase. (See § 190.3, factor (a).) Defendant suggests that such dual use of the same facts violates guarantees against multiple punishment, and precludes any meaningful distinction between murderers who are eligible for a death sentence and those who ultimately receive it. Similar claims have been rejected before. (E.g., People v. Stanley, supra, 10 Cal.4th 764, 820-821 [approving use of prior murder conviction as special circumstance and aggravating factor]; People v. Gates, supra, 43 Cal.3d 1168, 1188-1190 [approving use of felony murder as basis of first degree murder conviction, special circumstance, and aggravating circumstance].) Such cases reason, among other things, that the facts underlying a special circumstance finding serve distinct purposes at different phases of trial, and that the sentencer weighs the various factors in aggravation and mitigation in determining the appropriate penalty in a particular case. We see no basis for a contrary conclusion here. (Accord, Lowenfield v. Phelps (1988) 484 U.S. 231, 241-246 [98 L.Ed.2d 568, 579-583, 108 S.Ct. 546]; People v. Wader, supra, 5 Cal.4th 610, 669; People v. Webster (1991) 54 Cal.3d 411, 456 [285 Cal. Rptr. 31, 814 P.2d 1273]; People v. Marshall (1990) 50 Cal.3d 907, 945-946 [269 Cal. Rptr. 269, 790 P.2d 676].)