Opinion ID: 1249738
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Severance of Penalty Phase Proceedings.

Text: Before the penalty phase began, defendant moved to sever his penalty trial from Menefield's, either by bringing in two new juries for separate penalty trials or at least one new jury for separate trials. The motions were denied. (41) Defendant argues the court abused its discretion under state law and infringed on his federal constitutional rights when it refused to sever the penalty phase of his trial from that of Menefield. We disagree. Defendant asserts that six witnesses appeared against Menefield and twenty-four against him, each different. He argues the lack of cross-admissible evidence mandated a severed trial, given the heightened scrutiny accorded to severance motions in capital cases. ( People v. Smallwood (1986) 42 Cal.3d 415, 425-429 [228 Cal. Rptr. 913, 722 P.2d 197].) But the court did not abuse its discretion (§ 1098; People v. Floyd (1970) 1 Cal.3d 694, 720 [83 Cal. Rptr. 608, 464 P.2d 64]), particularly in light of the undisputed statutory preference for a joint penalty trial following a similar trial of guilt (§ 190.4). Nor do we agree with defendant that the prosecutor improperly sought to portray Menefield as the lesser offender. The prosecutor excoriated both defendants as wretched human beings; he did not spare Menefield in the least. Moreover, if at times the prosecutor had less critical things to say about Menefield than about defendant, it was because defendant was the worse offender: there was testimony he was the actual stabber of Gardner, and defendant, a convicted murderer, also had a more violent past than did Menefield, who was in prison for lesser though serious crimes. The verdict shows that the jury carefully weighed the culpability of each defendant and found defendant more blameworthy, but took care to discriminate among the charges on which defendant was convicted, deciding that he should be executed for the murder of Gardner and for the violation of section 4500 but should receive life imprisonment without possibility of parole for Patch's death. This was not a jury that the record reveals to have been swayed by anything other than the relative culpability of each defendant. Defendant also contends that the court's refusal to sever the penalty proceeding violated his constitutional right to an individualized determination of culpability. ( Zant v. Stephens (1983) 462 U.S. 862, 879 [77 L.Ed.2d 235, 251, 103 S.Ct. 2733].) We disagree. The jury's careful consideration of its penalty verdict, and the record as a whole, demonstrate that defendant received such a determination.