Opinion ID: 1199801
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The circumstances of the crime of which the defendant was convicted in the present proceeding and the existence of any special circumstance found to be true.

Text: (b) The presence or absence of criminal activity by the defendant which involved the use or attempted use of force or violence or the express or implied threat to use force or violence. (c) The presence or absence of any prior felony conviction. (d) Whether or not the offense was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance. (e) Whether or not the victim was a participant in the defendant's homicidal conduct or consented to the homicidal act. (f) Whether or not the offense was committed under circumstances which the defendant reasonably believed to be a moral justification or extenuation for his conduct. (g) Whether or not the defendant acted under extreme duress or under the substantial domination of another person. (h) Whether or not at the time of the offense the capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired as a result of mental disease or defect or the affects [ sic ] of intoxication.
(j) Whether or not the defendant was an accomplice to the offense and his participation in the commission of the offense was relatively minor. (k) Any other circumstance which extenuates the gravity of the crime even though it is not a legal excuse for the crime and any sympathetic or other aspect of the defendant's character or record that the defendant offers as a basis for a sentence less than death, whether or not related to the offense which he is on trial. You must disregard any jury instruction given to you in the guilt or innocence phase of this trial which conflicts with this principle. (Brackets omitted.) Defendant contends that the penalty factor dealing with the circumstances of the crime, as specified in Penal Code section 190.3 and as set out in the instruction quoted above, is impermissibly vague under the cruel and unusual punishments clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution as construed in Stringer v. Black (1992) 503 U.S. ___ [117 L.Ed.2d 367, 112 S.Ct. 1130], and required clarification by the court even, as here, in the absence of a request. We reject the claim under the holding of People v. Bacigalupo, ante, page 457, at pages 478-479 [24 Cal. Rptr.2d 808, 862 P.2d 808] (hereafter Bacigalupo ). Defendant argues that the court's error was compounded by its refusal of two special instructions he requested, viz., Special Instruction `4' and Special Instruction `10'. (See pt. IV.F., post. ) There was no error to be compounded. [21]