Opinion ID: 2638434
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: The Felony-murder Special Circumstance Adequately Narrows the Class of Persons Eligible for the Death Penalty

Text: Defendant contends that because, after People v. Anderson, supra, 43 Cal.3d 1104, 240 Cal.Rptr. 585, 742 P.2d 1306, the People can establish a felony-based special circumstanceand thus render a defendant eligible for the death penaltywithout proving the defendant intended to kill, the felony-murder special circumstance fails to adequately narrow the class of persons subject to the ultimate penalty as required by the federal Constitution. (See Zant v. Stephens, supra, 462 U.S. at p. 877, 103 S.Ct. 2733 [to be constitutional, an aggravating circumstance must genuinely narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty and must reasonably justify the imposition of a more severe sentence on the defendant compared to others found guilty of murder].) We have rejected this exact claim numerous times (see, e.g., People v. Musselwhite (1998) 17 Cal.4th 1216, 1265-1266, 74 Cal.Rptr.2d 212, 954 P.2d 475), and defendant does not attempt to explain why our prior decisions were incorrect.