Opinion ID: 1801680
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Miscellaneous Constitutional Issues Concerning California's Death Penalty Law

Text: Defendant contends California's death penalty law is unconstitutional on several grounds. He recognizes that we have previously rejected similar claims, but he requests that we reconsider our prior decisions on these issues. As defendant presents no compelling reason for us to do so, we decline his request. Below, we discuss our previous decisions bearing on the claims raised here by defendant. Defendant argues that the death penalty law in California violates the Eighth Amendment because it fails to distinguish death-eligible and non-death-eligible first-degree murders in a meaningful and non-arbitrary way. This is simply a variant of the claim, which we have repeatedly rejected, that the statute does not sufficiently narrow the class of death-eligible defendants to only the most serious offenders. ( People v. Carey (2007) 41 Cal.4th 109, 135 [59 Cal.Rptr.3d 172, 158 P.3d 743]; People v. Demetrulias (2006) 39 Cal.4th 1, 43-44 [45 Cal.Rptr.3d 407, 137 P.3d 229]; People v. Perry, supra, 38 Cal.4th at p. 322.) Factor (a) of section 190.3, which permits the jury to consider both the circumstances of the crime and the existence of special circumstances as aggravating circumstances, does not impermissibly result in double-counting or automatically create a bias in favor of a death verdict. ( People v. Tafoya, supra, 42 Cal.4th 147, 188; People v. Kennedy (2005) 36 Cal.4th 595, 641 [31 Cal.Rptr.3d 160, 115 P.3d 472]; People v. Cain (1995) 10 Cal.4th 1, 68-69 [40 Cal.Rptr.2d 481, 892 P.2d 1224].) The use of the word extreme in section 190.3, factor (d), to qualify the mitigating factor of a defendant's mental or emotional disturbance does not impermissibly limit consideration of the factor in violation of the federal Constitution. ( People v. Kennedy, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 641; People v. Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 1054-1055 [95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044]; People v. Morales (1989) 48 Cal.3d 527, 567-568 [257 Cal.Rptr. 64, 770 P.2d 244].) Notwithstanding various social science studies cited by defendant, there was no reasonable likelihood that potential jurors would find the statutory definition of mitigation misleading or not easily understandable. ( People v. Griffin (2004) 33 Cal.4th 536, 594 [15 Cal.Rptr.3d 743, 93 P.3d 344].) As previously discussed on page 624, ante, a trial court is not required to delete any inapplicable factors from the list of statutory factors presented to the jury. ( People v. Kennedy, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 641.) The trial court need not instruct the jury that a life sentence is mandatory if circumstances in aggravation do not outweigh those in mitigation. ( People v. Carey, supra, 41 Cal.4th 109, 137; People v. Medina (1995) 11 Cal.4th 694, 781-782 [47 Cal.Rptr.2d 165, 906 P.2d 2]; People v. Duncan (1991) 53 Cal.3d 955, 978 [281 Cal.Rptr. 273, 810 P.2d 131].) A death penalty determination, because it is inherently moral and normative, is not susceptible to a burden-of-proof quantification, and thus there is no requirement that the penalty phase jury find beyond a reasonable doubt that individual aggravating factors exist, that the aggravating factors substantially outweigh the mitigating ones, or that death is the appropriate penalty. ( People v. Hawthorne (1992) 4 Cal.4th 43, 79 [14 Cal.Rptr.2d 133, 841 P.2d 118]; see also People v. Demetrulias, supra, 39 Cal.4th 1, 40; People v. Snow (2003) 30 Cal.4th 43, 126 [132 Cal.Rptr.2d 271, 65 P.3d 749].) There is also no requirement that the jury must reach unanimity on which aggravating factors apply. ( People v. Smith, supra, 35 Cal.4th 334, 374; People v. Carey, supra, 41 Cal.4th 109, 136; People v. Kennedy, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 641.) Prosecutorial discretion in deciding whether to seek the death penalty is constitutional. ( People v. Demetrulias, supra, 39 Cal.4th 1, 43; People v. Snow, supra, 30 Cal.4th 43, 126; People v. Keenan (1988) 46 Cal.3d 478, 505 [250 Cal.Rptr. 550, 758 P.2d 1081].)