Opinion ID: 1205031
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's role in the crime.

Text: (35) Section 190.3, factor (j), specifies that among the matters to be considered by the trier of fact in determining the penalty is [w]hether or not the defendant was an accomplice to the offense and his participation in the commission of the offense was relatively minor. Defendant contends that, because the evidence merely established the inapplicability of factor (j), it was improper for the trial court to consider, as a factor in aggravation, the circumstance that defendant acted alone. We have indicated or implied in numerous prior decisions that factor (j) may be considered only as a mitigating factor, and that where the defendant is not an accomplice whose participation in the offense is relatively minor, the factor is simply inapplicable and should not be considered as aggravating. ( People v. Daniels, supra, 52 Cal.3d 815, 889; People v. Gallego, supra, 52 Cal.3d 115, 200; People v. Gonzalez, supra, 51 Cal.3d 1179, 1233-1234; People v. Hamilton, supra, 48 Cal.3d 1142, 1184; People v. Burton, supra, 48 Cal.3d 843, 865; People v. Walker (1988) 47 Cal.3d 605, 643-644 [253 Cal. Rptr. 863, 765 P.2d 70]; People v. Hernandez, supra, 47 Cal.3d 315, 363-364; People v. Adcox, supra, 47 Cal.3d 207, 273; People v. Moore (1988) 47 Cal.3d 63, 92 & fn. 13 [252 Cal. Rptr. 494, 762 P.2d 1218]; People v. Karis (1988) 46 Cal.3d 612, 652 [250 Cal. Rptr. 659, 758 P.2d 1189]; People v. Brown, supra, 46 Cal.3d 432, 455-456 & fn. 10; People v. Siripongs (1988) 45 Cal.3d 548, 582-583 [247 Cal. Rptr. 729, 754 P.2d 1306]; see People v. Davenport, supra, 41 Cal.3d 247, 288-290.) Nonetheless, in People v. Howard, supra, 1 Cal.4th 1132, 1195, we approved the trial court's treatment of evidence of that defendant's sole participation as aggravating under factor (j). We need not decide the issue raised by the apparent conflict among these decisions, because any error in the present case would not have been prejudicial. The People indicate that the failing, if any, in the trial court's consideration (under section 190.3, factor (j)) of the evidence that defendant had acted alone, consists in the court's already having considered defendant's singular and active role in the offense when the court reviewed the circumstances of the offense under section 190.3, factor (a). In his reply brief, defendant contends that the trial court did, in fact, err in this regard. Our review of the record reveals, however, that at no time during the court's discourse on the circumstances of the offense did it emphasize, or even mention, that defendant had acted alone. That the court reviewed defendant's commission of the offense (and the nature of that offense) does not lead to the conclusion that the court considered defendant's exclusive participation in the acts as a circumstance in aggravation under section 190.3, factor (a). Aside from the court's consideration, under section 190.3, factor (j), of defendant's role in the offense, the only other reference by the court to the circumstance that defendant acted alone was made in the context of its review of section 190.3, factor (g), addressing whether defendant had acted under extreme duress or under the domination of another person. In the latter part of its review, the court simply noted that, because defendant had acted alone, factor (g) was inapplicable. The court did not consider twice the evidence that defendant had acted alone in conceiving and carrying out the offense, and therefore, any error in considering this circumstance under factor (j) was harmless. ( People v. Burton, supra, 48 Cal.3d 843, 865; People v. Adcox, supra, 47 Cal.3d 207, 273.)