Opinion ID: 1351343
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Issues relating to penalty phase jury instructions.

Text: 1. At the guilt phase the court gave the standard instructions on evaluating evidence, including instructions on credibility of witnesses (CALJIC No. 2.20), expert testimony (CALJIC No. 2.80), and the like. At the penalty trial the court did not repeat the instructions or tell the jury whether any prior instructions still applied. (54) Defendant contends that the court has a duty to instruct sua sponte on the basic principles for evaluation of evidence, and that its failure to do so is reversible error. The court has a duty to instruct sua sponte on the general principles of law relevant to the evidence. (See 5 Witkin & Epstein, Cal. Criminal Law (2d ed. 1989) Trial, § 2924, pp. 3584-3586 and cases there cited.) This includes the duty to instruct on those general principles relating to the evaluation of evidence. (See People v. Rincon-Pineda (1975) 14 Cal.3d 864, 883-884 [123 Cal. Rptr. 119, 538 P.2d 247, 92 A.L.R.3d 845] [credibility of witnesses]; People v. Yrigouyen (1955) 45 Cal.2d 46, 49 [286 P.2d 1] [circumstantial evidence]; People v. Reeder (1976) 65 Cal. App.3d 235, 241 [135 Cal. Rptr. 421] [expert testimony].) We do not, however, believe that the court's failure to reinstruct the penalty jury is reversible error. Having heard no instructions or argument to the contrary, we think it likely that the jury would consider its prior instructions applicable to penalty phase evidence. [34] (See People v. Babbitt (1988) 45 Cal.3d 660, 717-718 [248 Cal. Rptr. 69, 755 P.2d 253]; People v. Gates, supra, 43 Cal.3d 1168, 1209.) In any case, we find no reasonable possibility that the giving of explicit instructions at the close of the penalty trial might have resulted in a different verdict. (55) 2. At the penalty trial defendant requested an instruction that in this part of the trial the law permits you to be influenced by mercy, sentiment, and sympathy  but not prejudice or public opinion  in arriving at the proper penalty in this case. He argues that the court erred in rejecting the instruction. Essentially the same issue arose in People v. Williams (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1268, 1322 [248 Cal. Rptr. 834, 756 P.2d 221], in which the defendant claimed the court erred in refusing to instruct that `[y]ou may consider pity, sympathy, and mercy in deciding the appropriate penalty; however, your opinion may not be governed by guessing, prejudice, or public opinion....' Our opinion held that the trial judge could properly refuse the instruction because it could be understood by the jurors as permitting them to indulge in sympathy unrelated to any of the evidence adduced at trial. ( Ibid.; see California v. Brown (1987) 479 U.S. 538, 542 [93 L.Ed.2d 934, 940, 107 S.Ct. 837].) 3. During the guilt and penalty trials the jury heard direct evidence of some other crimes committed by the defendant. Expert witnesses and character witnesses referred to still other crimes. The trial court instructed the jury on the elements of those crimes which the prosecutor planned to argue as aggravating factors, told them not to consider those crimes unless proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and instructed that you may not consider any evidence of any other criminal activity as an aggravating circumstance. It also instructed the jury that you shall consider all of the evidence which has been received during any part of this case. (56) Defendant contends that the two instructions are inconsistent. We think the jury would understand the specific instruction not to consider as aggravating factors those crimes which the prosecutor did not attempt to prove beyond a reasonable doubt as qualifying the general instruction to consider all the evidence, and hence find no instructional error. (57) 4. The court's guilt phase instructions defined reasonable doubt. The court did not repeat this instruction at the penalty phase. We believe, however, that the jury would reasonably understand that the definition given at the guilt phase applied equally to the penalty phase. (58) 5. Defendant asked the court to instruct the jury that each aggravating circumstance as well as the preponderance of aggravation over mitigation must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The court correctly rejected this instruction. ( People v. Frierson (1979) 25 Cal.3d 142, 180 [158 Cal. Rptr. 281, 599 P.2d 587] [1977 death penalty law]; People v. Rodriguez, supra, 42 Cal.3d 730, 777-779 [1978 law].) (59) 6. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to delete inapplicable mitigating factors when it read the factors which the jury should consider in determining which penalty to impose. We rejected this contention in People v. Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d 713, 770; People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d 57, 104-105, and in numerous other cases. 7. This case was tried before our decision in People v. Brown, supra, 40 Cal.3d 512, and the trial court instructed the jury, in conformity with the then-applicable provisions of CALJIC No. 8.84, that after considering the applicable aggravating and mitigating circumstances, [i]f you conclude that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances, you shall impose a sentence of death. However, if you determine that the mitigating circumstances outweigh the aggravating circumstances, you shall impose a sentence of confinement in the state prison for life without possibility of parole. In Brown, supra, 40 Cal.3d 512, we recognized that this instruction  which tracked the language of section 190.3  was potentially confusing and could mislead the jury with respect to its determination of penalty. Among our concerns was the fear that the instruction might lead jurors to the mistaken belief that once they determined that circumstances in aggravation outweighed mitigation, they were compelled to return a death verdict, even if they did not believe that punishment appropriate on the facts of the case. (See, e.g., People v. Allen (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1222, 1276-1277 [232 Cal. Rptr. 849, 729 P.2d 115].) Because of the potentially misleading nature of the instruction, we held that in reviewing cases tried before Brown we would review the record to determine whether ... the sentencer may have been mislead to defendant's prejudice about the scope of its sentencing discretion.... ( Brown, supra, 40 Cal.3d at p. 544, fn. 17.) (60) Defendant here contends that the prosecutor's repeated emphasis on the apparently mandatory language of the instruction  shall impose a sentence of death  misled the jury to his prejudice. The Attorney General first responds by asking us to overrule Brown. That decision, he claims, was mistaken in its assertion that the California law might be unconstitutional if construed to leave the jury no discretion but to return a death verdict whenever it found circumstances in aggravation outweighed mitigation (see 40 Cal.3d at p. 540). Two recent five-to-four United States Supreme Court decisions show that while the issue was close and unsettled when Brown was decided, it is now reasonably clear that a law so limiting the jury's discretion is still within constitutional bounds. ( Boyde v. California (1990) 494 U.S. 370 [108 L.Ed.2d 316, 110 S.Ct. 1190]; Blystone v. Pennsylvania (1990) 494 U.S. 299 [108 L.Ed.2d 255, 110 S.Ct. 1078].) The Attorney General argues that we should reconsider Brown in light of those decisions. We called for briefing and argument on this question in People v. Gonzalez (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1179 [275 Cal. Rptr. 729, 800 P.2d 1159], but ultimately concluded that it was not necessary to reconsider Brown, and decided the case under Brown 's analytical method. (51 Cal.3d at p. 1231, fn. 30.) We follow the same approach here. We find no reasonable likelihood that the jury in this case was misled into an incorrect understanding of its function. We quote the portion of the prosecutor's argument which bears on this point. He told the jurors: There are, I think, 11 separate factors that you will be directed by the court to consider in making your decision. The court will also tell you the test to be applied. Because essentially what you are doing is you are saying is this the kind of case which society has provided the death penalty for? Applying rules given to me, is this the case that warrants the death penalty? There is no burden of proof. If you find the aggravating factors to outweigh, merely outweigh, the mitigating factors, the death penalty is the decision you should return; and, conversely, if you find the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating factors, life without parole. Notice the language [of the court's instruction] is not you `may' consider and you `may' be guided. This instruction tells you that you `shall.' It is hoped that we can produce some predictability into the process of applying punishment, and it is thought if your discretion is guided, that predictability is brought into the process and that's what it is sought for. There is some problematic language here, including the prosecutor's assertion that the death penalty is required if aggravation merely outweighs mitigation. (See CALJIC No. 8.88; People v. Brown, supra, 40 Cal.3d 512, 545, fn. 19.) But the thrust of the prosecutor's argument was not that the penalty determination follows a mechanical or arithmetical model, but instead involved the exercise of guided discretion to determine whether the case at hand is the kind of case which warrants the death penalty. The argument as a whole was consistent with the function of the jury as described in Brown.