Opinion ID: 844251
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Mercy and sympathy

Text: (28) Defendant requested an instruction that would have informed the jurors that they could spare defendant's life based on mercy or sympathy alone. But such an instruction is not required; indeed, the jury may be admonished that it should not decide the penalty on the basis of mere, or factually untethered, sympathy. ( Tate, supra, 49 Cal.4th at p. 711; see also, e.g., People v. Gonzalez (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1179, 1275 [275 Cal.Rptr. 729, 800 P.2d 1159]; California v. Brown (1987) 479 U.S. 538, 542-543 [93 L.Ed.2d 934, 107 S.Ct. 837].) Under CALJIC No. 8.88, the jury was properly instructed, in part, that [it] is free to assign whatever moral or sympathetic value you deem appropriate to each and all of the various factors you are permitted to consider. In addition, the jury was informed under CALJIC No. 8.85 that it could consider 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. No error occurred.