Opinion ID: 2639408
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Instruction to render separate penalty verdicts for each murder count

Text: Before the commencement of its penalty deliberations, the trial court submitted to the jury separate verdict forms for each of the two murder convictions. The jury returned a verdict of life without parole for the Salgado murder and death for the Thompson murder. Defendant now contends the use of separate verdict forms abrogated the jury's ultimate responsibility to determine the appropriate punishment and risked placing undue emphasis on the characteristics of the individual victims, thus violating his state and federal constitutional rights to due process and equal protection of the law, a fair trial, and a reliable penalty determination. .Defendant acknowledges we resolved the same arguments unfavorably to him in People v. Sandoval (1992) 4 Cal.4th 155, 197, 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 342, 841 P.2d 862, but asks us to reconsider that decision. He offers no persuasive reason for departing from our prior holding on this point, and we therefore decline to do so.