Opinion ID: 2600070
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of reversals on death sentence

Text: Pointing out that the trial court instructed the penalty retrial jurors to base their determination on [t]he circumstances of the crime of which the defendant was convicted (§ 190.3, factor (a)), defendant argues that in the event we reverse or reduce any conviction or special circumstance finding, we must also reverse his death sentence. He contends that reversal of penalty is required because the reversal of a count or finding would alter the landscape the jurors considered in determining penalty, and that reversal is mandated moreover by the Sixth Amendment principles enunciated in Apprendi, supra, 530 U.S. 466, and its progeny, which hold that any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. ( Id. at p. 490.) Because we affirm all of the convictions and findings against defendant, we need not reexamine whether it is proper to conduct harmless error review when an appellate court reverses or vacates a conviction or finding the jurors considered in determining penalty.