Opinion ID: 2598792
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of Defendant's Testimony on the Jury's Verdict

Text: Defendant next argues that his own testimony (if it was my choice, not the jurors, I would have picked the death penalty) rendered the ensuing death judgment constitutionally unreliable. As previously noted, however, every defendant in a death case has the right to testify, even if contrary to counsel's advice, and even if that testimony indicates a preference for the death penalty. ( People v. Webb, supra, 6 Cal.4th at pp. 534-535, 24 Cal. Rptr.2d 779, 862 P.2d 779; Guzman, supra, 45 Cal.3d at pp. 961-963, 248 Cal. Rptr. 467, 755 P.2d 917.) Defendant gives us no reason to reconsider those decisions. The jurors in this case were properly instructed that their duty was to decide the appropriate penalty, based on the law and the evidence, and defense counsel's closing arguments confirmed that principle and expressed skepticism about defendant's asserted preference for death. We find no error in permitting defendant to testify as to his preference for the death penalty.