Opinion ID: 1202382
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Instruct on Lack of Intent to Kill as Mitigating Factor

Text: (28) Finally, defendant objects that the trial court refused two sets of specific instructions, one telling the jury that if defendant did not specifically intend to kill the deceased, it might consider that to be a mitigating factor and the other telling the jury it must find intent to kill before imposing a sentence of death. [32] Despite the fact that, as discussed above, the jury returned a special finding at the guilt phase that defendant personally killed the victim and did so intentionally, defendant maintains these instructions should have been given to exploit any lingering doubt they may have had concerning defendant's intent. Had the requested instructions actually asked the jury to consider any lingering doubts about defendant's intent to kill, despite the sufficiency of evidence to support their special finding, we might seriously consider whether refusal to give such instruction was error. In People v. Terry (1964) 61 Cal.2d 137 [37 Cal. Rptr. 605, 390 P.2d 381], we noted a defendant may call upon such doubts in the penalty phase. ( Id. at pp. 145-146; and see Heiney v. Florida (1984) 469 U.S. 920, 920-924 [83 L.Ed.2d 237, 238, 105 S.Ct. 303] [dissent by Marshall, J. to den. of pet. to vacate death sentence].) But we have also noted there is a difference between calling upon residual feelings of doubt and inviting readjudication of matters resolved at the guilt phase. ( Terry, supra, 61 Cal.2d at p. 147; see People v. Haskett (1982) 30 Cal.3d 841, 866 [180 Cal. Rptr. 640, 640 P.2d 776].) That difference was not honored in the proposed instructions here which would have served to confuse the jury by inviting relitigation of the issue of intent. Finally, as to whether finding intent to kill is a prerequisite to imposition of a death sentence on a victim's actual killer, this position was rejected in Tison v. Arizona, supra, 481 U.S. 137, 156-157 [95 L.Ed.2d 127, 143-144, 107 S.Ct. 1676, 1688]. (See also Anderson, supra, 43 Cal.3d at pp. 1138-1147.) We conclude that proposed instructions on this point were properly rejected.