Opinion ID: 1258767
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Statement of Murder Victim's Grandmother

Text: (17) Defendant next contends the court erred in allowing the murder victim's grandmother, Mrs. Linebaugh, to make a statement prior to its ruling on defendant's motion for modification of sentence. Among other things, Mrs. Linebaugh thanked the jury for its verdict, thanked the voters for achieving a more qualified Supreme Court to consider the arguments, reminded the court that defendant was a child murderer who never denied killing Amy, implored the court to give him the penalty he so deserves, and wished that there was an even more maximum penalty that could be imposed. The court thereupon denied the motion to modify sentence. Recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court deem most victim impact and victim character evidence irrelevant to the sentencing decision and potentially prejudicial to the defendant's plea for a lesser punishment. (See South Carolina v. Gathers, supra, 490 U.S. 805 [prosecutor's argument regarding victim's good character]; Booth v. Maryland, supra, 482 U.S. 496 [victim impact statements].) Neither case involves the admissibility of victim impact or character evidence at a sentencing hearing by the trial court following the jury's verdict. (See People v. Siripongs (1988) 45 Cal.3d 548, 585-586, fn. 12 [247 Cal. Rptr. 729, 754 P.2d 1306].) Thus, we have stated that the Eighth Amendment considerations expressed in Booth/Gathers are not implicated in a modification hearing under section 190.4. ( People v. Jennings, supra, 46 Cal.3d at pp. 994-995; see People v. Lang (1989) 49 Cal.3d 991, 1043-1044 [264 Cal. Rptr. 386, 782 P.2d 627].) Nonetheless, as we explained in Jennings, that section does limit the court's consideration to the evidence available to the jury. (46 Cal.3d at p. 994.) In the present case, the prosecutor asked the court if it would allow Mrs. Linebaugh to speak, stating that he had explained to her that her remarks would not play a part in the court's decision. The court agreed to let Mrs. Linebaugh speak. After hearing her statement and the argument of counsel, and prior to announcing its ruling, the court indicated that its determination was based only on the evidence considered by the jury. The court reviewed the penalty phase evidence, and stated that it had made an independent determination that the weight of the evidence supports the jury's verdict. The mitigating factors pale in comparison to the circumstances of the murder. Unlike cases in which the record affirmatively discloses the court's reliance on improper or inadmissible evidence in making its ruling on the modification motion (e.g., People v. Lewis (1990) 50 Cal.3d 262, 287 [266 Cal. Rptr. 834, 786 P.2d 892] [reliance on probation report]), in the present case the record strongly supports a contrary finding. We conclude that admission of Mrs. Linebaugh's statement does not require reversal or remand of the court's denial of defendant's modification motion. We suggest, however, that in future cases the preferred practice would be to admit such statements, if at all, only after the court has ruled on the modification motion.