Opinion ID: 2602047
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Equal Protection Challenge to Imposition of the Death Penalty

Text: Defendant argues that the death penalty in California violates the California Constitution and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because it is imposed arbitrarily and capriciously depending on the county in which the case is prosecuted. As defendant concedes, we have repeatedly rejected substantially similar claims, concluding that prosecutorial discretion to select those eligible cases in which the death penalty [would] actually be sought does not . . . offend principles of equal protection, due process, or cruel and/or unusual punishment. [Citations.] ( People v. Keenan (1988) 46 Cal.3d 478, 505 [250 Cal.Rptr. 550, 758 P.2d 1081]; see People v. Brown (2004) 33 Cal.4th 382, 403 [15 Cal.Rptr.3d 624, 93 P.3d 244]; People v. Williams, supra, 16 Cal.4th at p. 278.) Defendant does not identify a reason to reconsider our prior holdings and we decline to do so. [19]