Opinion ID: 844271
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Validity of the Lewd-and-lascivious-act Special Circumstance

Text: (16) The lewd-and-lascivious-act special circumstance applies to any person who is the actual killer during the commission of a lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14. (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(E), (b); see People v. Anderson (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1104, 1146-1147 [240 Cal.Rptr. 585, 742 P.2d 1306].) Defendant contends that the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and international law require at least a finding that he either intended to kill or acted with reckless indifference to human life. We recently rejected the constitutional contention and see no reason to revisit the question. ( People v. Letner and Tobin (2010) 50 Cal.4th 99, 191-194 [112 Cal.Rptr.3d 746, 235 P.3d 62].) Additionally, any death judgment that complies with state and federal constitutional and statutory requirements does not violate international law. ( People v. Lewis (2008) 43 Cal.4th 415, 539 [75 Cal.Rptr.3d 588, 181 P.3d 947].) In response to defendant's argument that the current state of the law means a defendant might be death eligible even for an accidental killing, it is hard to imagine how the actual killer, who kills while committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14, can kill accidentally. Certainly Monique's death was no accident. Because defendant deposited her body in a vacant lot, leaving it to decompose for four days, the exact way he killed her could not be determined medically. But it appears defendant asphyxiated her, perhaps by choking her by the neck, as he had choked his two previous sexual assault victims. In any event, the evidence establishes that he acted with at least reckless indifference to her life when he killed her.