Supreme Court of California

On automatic appeal from a death sentence for first degree murder, the judgment is affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) admission of preliminary hearing testimony of a prosecution witness that exercised his privilege against self-incrimination; 2) introduction of preliminary hearing testimony of a witness that was cross-examined by counsel representing co-defendant; 3) a failure to inform the jury that a witness had exercised his privilege against self-incrimination; 4) refusal of defendant's request to ask leading questions of his original prosecutor; 5) admission of evidence of bias against a defense witness; 6) a failure to instruct the jury that one of the individuals involved in the crime was an accomplice by law; 7) an instruction to the jury telling them to view the defendant's confession with caution; 8) a jury instruction pursuant to CALJIC No. 2.01 regarding sufficiency of circumstantial evidence; 9) limiting a defense witness' opinion whether defendant should be executed; 10) the lack of a jury instruction at the penalty phase which would let jurors know that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole would mean defendant never would be released from prison; 11) constitutional challenges to the death penalty law; and 12) cumulative error.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/05/2008
• Published 05/05/2008

Judges

• GEORGE, C.J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Barry L. Morris, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Hayward, for Defendant and Appellant., Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Mary Jo Graves, Assistant Attorney General, Janis Shank McLean, Patrick J. Whalen and David A. Rhodes, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.