Opinion ID: 1155733
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Defendant's Testimony About Choice of Penalty

Text: During the penalty phase, after defendant had testified on his own behalf regarding his religious conversion, his remorse, and his desire for a fair judgment, the prosecutor asked on cross-examination, and over objection, what penalty defendant believed was appropriate for his crimes. He replied, If I were one of the 12 jurors, I would vote for the death penalty. (11) On appeal, defendant contends the prosecutor's question was improper for two reasons: (1) it sought information that was irrelevant to any statutory sentencing factor (see People v. Boyd (1985) 38 Cal.3d 762, 773-774 [215 Cal. Rptr. 1, 700 P.2d 782]), and (2) it tended to diminish the jury's sense of responsibility (see Caldwell v. Mississippi (1985) 472 U.S. 320, 341 [86 L.Ed.2d 231, 247, 105 S.Ct. 2633]; People v. Ramos (1984) 37 Cal.3d 136, 154-157 [207 Cal. Rptr. 800, 689 P.2d 430]). We reject both arguments. The People observe that defendant had the right to testify on his own behalf, and on direct examination could have informed the jury of his supposed choice of penalty (see People v. Guzman, supra, 45 Cal.3d at p. 962). But the testimony at issue was elicited on cross-examination over defense counsel's objection, and was not simply volunteered by defendant. Thus, the issue cannot be decided on a right to testify basis, and we must reach the merits of defendant's contentions. 1. Irrelevance. A defendant's opinion regarding the appropriate penalty the jury should impose usually would be irrelevant to the jury's penalty decision. (See People v. Guzman, supra, 45 Cal.3d at pp. 962-963; People v. Boyd, supra, 38 Cal.3d at pp. 773-774; but see People v. Whitt (1990) 51 Cal.3d 620, 646-648 [274 Cal. Rptr. 252, 798 P.2d 849] [defendant's response to defense questions asking if he wanted to live or deserved to live deemed potentially relevant mitigating evidence].) But under the circumstances here, the evidence was relevant to matters raised by defendant in his direct examination. The prosecutor's penalty question followed defendant's self-serving testimony regarding his conversion to Christianity, and his willingness to accept responsibility for his acts in the form of a fair judgment from the jury. Seen in the context of defendant's entire testimony, we think the prosecutor's question was unobjectionable, for it bore on the extent of defendant's remorse for his crimes, his realization of the seriousness thereof, and his willingness to atone for them by paying society's highest price. As a general rule, prosecutors should avoid asking such questions, but, under the circumstances here, we conclude no misconduct occurred. 2. Jury's sense of responsibility. Defendant argues that allowing him to suggest to the jury an appropriate penalty may have reduced the jurors' own sense of responsibility for selecting that penalty. Defendant contends this risk was aggravated when, over defense objection, the prosecutor elicited from a defense psychiatrist the fact that the psychiatrist's former husband was working on defendant's appeal. (See Caldwell v. Mississippi, supra, 472 U.S. at pp. 325-326 [86 L.Ed.2d at pp. 237-238] [prosecutor improperly mentioned availability of automatic appeal in closing argument].) We have already explained why defendant's view of the appropriate penalty was relevant to certain matters raised by him on direct examination. As for the reference by the defense psychiatrist to an appeal, the record indicates the matter was raised in the course of cross-examining the psychiatrist for the limited purpose of showing her relationship with a member of the defense team. As will appear in the following part of this opinion, the jury was properly instructed regarding its responsibility to select an appropriate penalty, and we find nothing in the record indicating the jury was unduly influenced by defendant's penalty response or the reference to an appeal. Indeed, the prosecutor made no mention of either subject in his closing arguments. (See also People v. Fiero (1991) 1 Cal.4th 173, 244-245 [3 Cal. Rptr.2d 426, 821 P.2d 1302] [passing reference to defendant's right to appeal harmless where not made in context of possible appellate correction of erroneous death verdict]; People v. Bloom (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1194, 1223 [259 Cal. Rptr. 669, 774 P.2d 698] [mere request by defendant for death penalty did not ensure jury would impose such penalty].)