Opinion ID: 1205031
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Constitutionality of section 190.3, factor (a).

Text: (32) Defendant challenges the constitutionality of the portion of section 190.3 that provides: In determining the penalty, the trier of fact shall take into account ... [as] relevant: [¶] (a) The circumstances of the crime of which the defendant was convicted in the present proceeding and the existence of any special circumstance found to be true.... Defendant contends the phrase, the circumstances of the crime, is too vague to permit any meaningful distinction between those murders that warrant the death penalty and those that do not. The United States Supreme Court itself has established that the circumstances surrounding a capital offense constitute one of the criteria upon which the jury should base its penalty determination. (See, e.g., Penry v. Lynaugh (1989) 492 U.S. 302, 318 [106 L.Ed.2d 256, 277-278, 109 S.Ct. 2934]; Booth v. Maryland (1987) 482 U.S. 496, 502 [96 L.Ed.2d 440, 448, 107 S.Ct. 2529], overruled on other grounds in Payne v. Tennessee (1991) ___ U.S. ___ [115 L.Ed.2d 720, 111 S.Ct. 2597]; Jurek v. Texas (1976) 428 U.S. 262, 274 [49 L.Ed.2d 929, 939-940, 96 S.Ct. 2950] (plur. opn.).) The high court has not stated or implied that the factor of the circumstances of the offense is unconstitutionally vague. Defendant also contends section 190.3 is unconstitutional as applied to him because, unlike the typical case where the same jury decides both issues of guilt and penalty, his case afforded the jurors only one opportunity to express their outrage at the offenses  by assigning the degree of punishment  and therefore the jury was more prone to set the maximum penalty. Nothing in the evidence, the arguments of counsel, or the instructions supports this assertion. Furthermore, because it was defendant who requested the change of venue and, by definition, the new jury, he is not in a position to claim prejudice from the granting of his motion. We also note that defendant has provided no authority for the proposition that, when a new penalty jury has been impaneled, the state may not permit the jury to determine the appropriate punishment on the basis of the same criteria that would have applied had a single jury determined both issues of guilt and penalty. Defendant has not provided any basis for us to conclude section 190.3 is unconstitutional.