Opinion ID: 1226896
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Claim of Error as to the Burden of Proof

Text: (65) Defendant claims that the trial court erred by refusing to give, on his request, Defense Instruction No. 17, which states in relevant part: You may impose a penalty of death only where the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt and only where you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the death penalty is the appropriate punishment. Defendant's position is that Defense Instruction No. 17 correctly states the law. In support, he may be understood to argue that imposition on the People of the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt as to each of the following issues is required by the 1978 death penalty law: (1) a circumstance in aggravation may be considered only if its existence is proved beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the penalty may be fixed at death only if the aggravating circumstances are found to outweigh the mitigating beyond a reasonable doubt; and (3) the penalty may be fixed at death only if death is determined to be the appropriate punishment beyond a reasonable doubt. That is not the case. ( People v. Benson, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 808.) He then argues that imposition of the burden is required by the Constitutions of the United States and California, specifically: (1) the cruel and unusual punishments clauses of the Eighth Amendment and article I, section 17; (2) the due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and article I, sections 7 and 15; and, apparently, (3) the equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and article I, section 7. That, also, is not the case. (E.g., People v. Benson, supra, at p. 808; People v. Marshall, supra, 50 Cal.3d at pp. 935-936.) [20]