Opinion ID: 1291295
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure of 1978 Death Penalty Law to Adequately Narrow Class of Death-eligible Murderers

Text: Defendant contends the California death penalty statute violates the Eighth Amendment because the special circumstances that determine death eligibility fail to genuinely narrow the class of murderers eligible for the death penalty. ( Zant v. Stephens (1983) 462 U.S. 862, 877, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 77 L.Ed.2d 235.) We have repeatedly rejected this argument and do so again. (E.g., People v. Smithey (1999) 20 Cal.4th 936, 1017, 86 Cal.Rptr.2d 243, 978 P.2d 1171; People v. Arias, supra, 13 Cal.4th at pp. 186-187, 51 Cal.Rptr.2d 770, 913 P.2d 980; People v. Crittenden (1994) 9 Cal.4th 83, 154-156, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 474, 885 P.2d 887.)