Opinion ID: 1247657
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Refusal to Instruct on Leniency to Hodges as Mitigating Factor.

Text: (53) The court did not err in refusing to instruct that the leniency granted to Hodges could be considered as a factor in mitigation. In People v. Belmontes (1988) 45 Cal.3d 744, 811-813 [248 Cal. Rptr. 126, 755 P.2d 310], we held that the court did not err in refusing to admit at the penalty phase evidence of the codefendants' negotiated plea dispositions as mitigating evidence. The reasoning there applies equally here. The focus in a penalty phase trial of a capital case is on the character and record of the individual offender. The individually negotiated disposition of an accomplice is not constitutionally relevant to defendant's penalty determination.