Opinion ID: 2590272
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Spillover effect of guilt phase errors on penalty determination

Text: Defendant renews many of the same claims he made concerning the guilt phase of his trial, contending that alleged guilt phase errors rendered the penalty determination unreliable. Specifically, he points to the asserted errors in admitting autopsy and crime scene photographs, the claimed insufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for kidnapping for robbery and first degree murder; asserted instructional errors concerning flight and the defense theory of the case; and the court's failure to instruct on various lesser included offenses. He claims that these asserted errors in the aggregate improperly prejudiced the jury at the penalty phase of the proceedings. As explained above, there is no merit in any of defendant's claims that error was committed at the guilt phase, and accordingly his contention that such errors cumulatively were prejudicial at the penalty phase lacks merit.