Tag Archives: Death Penalty


Instruction Concerning Double-Counting of Aggravating Factor must Be Requested
July 28th, 2016

People v. Salazar (2016) 63 C4th 214, 254 held that the double counting instruction must be requested: “Defendant claims his prior murder conviction was improperly used both as a special circumstance under section 190.2, subdivision (a) and as an aggravating factor under section 190.3, factors (b) and (c). He contends the jury should have been […]


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Death Penalty: Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances
August 21st, 2015

CC 763, which lists those factors that can be considered in the penalty phase of death penalty trials, was revised on December 9, 2008. As explained by the Advisory Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions in its report to the Judicial Council, CC 763 “was revised to clarify that ‘violent criminal activity’ only includes crimes directed […]


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What Is A “Major Participant” Within The Meaning Of Penal Code 190.2(d)?
March 7th, 2015

  Penal Code Section 190.2 (d) was enacted to bring California law into conformity with the High Court’s decision in Tison v. Arizona (1987) 481 U.S. 137 and the statutory language of section 190.2(d) derives verbatim from the decision in Tison. (People v. Estrada (1995) 11 Cal.4th 568, 575.) Tison held that the Eighth Amendment […]


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Prosecution Order For Mental Examination Of Capital Defendant
February 27th, 2014

  The Related Issues section cites Centeno v. Superior Court for the proposition that a defendant must submit to an examination by a prosecution expert if the defendant places at issue the question of whether he is mentally retarded. (Centeno v. Superior Court (2004) 117 Cal. App. 4th 30.) Later California Supreme Court cases have […]


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Death Penalty: Response To Jury Inquiring About Commutation
February 20th, 2014

  This instruction was added on April 23, 2010, at the recommendation of the CC Committee. The Committee noted that “Because it is so easy to make a mistake in instructing on this issue, the committee agreed that it was important to provide a carefully crafted instruction for courts to use.” (Advisory Committee on Criminal […]


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Death Penalty: Repeating Guilt Phase Instructions
February 20th, 2014

  If the trial court instructs the jury to disregard all instructions given at the guilt phase, it must give those instructions which are applicable to the evaluation of the evidence at the penalty phase. Failure to give the required instructions will be reviewed under the harmless beyond a reasonable doubt standard. (People v. Lewis […]


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