Opinion ID: 2633509
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 31

Heading: Unconstitutional Methods of Execution

Text: Defendant contends that both the administration of lethal gas and lethal injection, the two execution methods authorized by section 3604, violate the Eighth Amendment's bar on cruel or unusual punishment. As we have previously held, a challenge to the method of a future execution is not cognizable on appeal because it does not affect the validity of the judgment. ( People v. Snow, supra, 30 Cal.4th at pp. 127-128, 132 Cal.Rptr.2d 271, 65 P.3d 749; People v. Holt (1997) 15 Cal.4th 619, 702, 63 Cal.Rptr.2d 782, 937 P.2d 213.)