Opinion ID: 2637824
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony of the Surviving Victims

Text: Defendant claims that, in death penalty cases, the Eighth Amendment, due process, and the right to a fair trial prohibit victims of a defendant's noncapital crimes from providing testimony about the impact of those crimes. He also argues that the testimony of Maria M. and Sabrina P. had no relevance to the circumstances of the capital crime within the meaning of section 190.3, factor (a). (15) Defendant has forfeited these claims on appeal because defense counsel objected to this evidence only on Evidence Code section 352 grounds. In any event, even if we assume defendant preserved his claims for this appeal, they lack merit. Although the impact of defendant's assaults on Maria and Sabrina were not relevant to the circumstances of the capital crime under factor (a), they were relevant and admissible as evidence of the emotional effect of defendant's other violent criminal acts under section 190.3, factor (b). ( People v. Price, supra, 1 Cal.4th 324, 479.) We have rejected the contention that such evidence violates the Eighth Amendment. ( People v. Davis (2009) 46 Cal.4th 539, 617-618 [94 Cal.Rptr.3d 322, 208 P.3d 78].)