Opinion ID: 2584939
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Life Prone Prospective Jurors

Text: Defendant contends Prospective Jurors Nos. 1393 [6] and 1158 were wrongfully excused from jury service by the trial court after expressing anti-death-penalty sentiments. We do not agree. (4) A prospective juror can be properly excused for cause if he or she is unable to conscientiously consider all of the sentencing alternatives, including the death penalty where appropriate. ( People v. Barnett (1998) 17 Cal.4th 1044, 1114 [74 Cal.Rptr.2d 121, 954 P.2d 384]; Rodrigues, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 1146.) There is no requirement that the prospective juror's bias against the death penalty be proved with unmistakable clarity. ( Wainwright v. Witt, supra, 469 U.S. at p. 424.) Rather, the trial judge need only determine that the prospective juror would be unable to faithfully and impartially apply the law in the case before him or her. ( Rodrigues, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 1147; People v. Hill (1992) 3 Cal.4th 959, 1003 [13 Cal.Rptr.2d 475, 839 P.2d 984].) Prospective Juror No. 1393 told the court he would have difficulty coming up with the death penalty, especially for the death penalty. He expressed uncertainty as to whether he could make the decision between a life and a death sentence. When defense counsel asked him, And are you telling us that ifif the aggravating factors, the factors that make this a more heinous crime, outweigh thesignificantly outweigh any kind of mitigating factors that there'sin all circumstances you could not impose the death penalty or vote for the death penalty? He replied, Yeah. I think that's right. At that point the prosecutor challenged Prospective Juror No. 1393 for cause, and the court excused him. Prospective Juror No. 1158 repeatedly stated she could not vote to impose the death penalty. She indicated she was not comfortable making the judgment on someone's life. She said it would bother her to vote for death because she did not feel that I have a place to judge on someone's life. When asked if she could vote for death if the jury determined the aggravating factors substantially outweighed the mitigating factors, she replied, No. She was then excused for cause. Manifestly, neither of these two prospective jurors was improperly excused for cause.