Supreme Court of California

Defendant's conviction and sentence of death for conspiracy to commit murder and first degree murder are affirmed in its entirety, including: 1) because the California special circumstance charge of murder by means of lying in wait required proof of conduct that was not necessary for proof of the prior federal murder-for-hire charge, the prior conviction provided no defense under section 656 to the state murder charges; 2) defendant's claim that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his various severance motions is without merit; 3) defendant's various evidentiary claims are without merit; 4) trial court's limitations on voir dire; 5) jury instructions on mitigating factors; and 6) defendant's challenges to the death penalty statutes based on constitutional considerations and international law are without merit.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/03/2012
• Published 12/03/2012

Judges

• Werdegar

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel