Opinion ID: 1199062
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Triple Counting of Aggravating Factors

Text: Defendant contends that the trial court's instruction describing how the jury was to make its penalty determinations, coupled with assertedly misleading argument by the prosecutor, allowed the jury to improperly triple count defendant's conduct, thereby artificially inflating the aggravating circumstances and eliminating a mitigating circumstance. The trial court gave this instruction (CALJIC No. 8.84.1 (4th ed. 1979)): In determining which penalty is to be imposed on defendant, you shall consider all of the evidence which has been received during any part of the trial of this case, (except as you may hereafter be instructed). You shall consider, take into account and be guided by the following factors, if applicable: [¶] (a) The circumstances of the crime of which the defendant was convicted in the present proceeding and the existence of any special circumstance(s) found to be true. [¶] (b) The presence or absence of criminal activity by the defendant which involved the use or attempted use of force or violence, or the expressed or implied threat to use force or violence. [¶] (c) The presence or absence of any prior felony conviction.... During closing argument, the prosecutor noted that the instruction at issue was unclear as to how the jury should address the crimes of child endangerment of which defendant was convicted in this case based on the incidents that occurred in June 1981 and April 1983, before the events in this case that resulted in James's death. [17] (47) Defendant contends, correctly so, that factors (b) and (c) of CALJIC No. 8.84.1, which track the language of factors (b) and (c) of section 190.3, apply only to criminal activity other than the crimes for which he was convicted in the present proceeding. ( People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at pp. 105-106.) Defendant was convicted of five counts of endangering a child, in addition to being convicted of murder. Defendant maintains that the instruction at issue and the prosecutor's argument allowed the jury to consider defendant's child abuse convictions three times, that is, under factors (a), (b), and (c) of the instruction. Instructing the jury under CALJIC No. 8.84.1 is not error in the absence of misleading argument by the prosecutor. (See People v. Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 106; People v. Kimble (1988) 44 Cal.3d 480, 505 [244 Cal. Rptr. 148].) Here, while commenting that he was not sure how the offenses should be categorized, the prosecutor merely asked that the jury consider the offenses, not that it consider them two or three times. The prosecutor's argument did not mislead the jury. Thus, the trial court did not err in giving CALJIC No. 8.84.1 (4th ed.) in this case. ( People v. Andrews (1989) 49 Cal.3d 200, 226-227 [260 Cal. Rptr. 583, 776 P.2d 285].)