holding that the prosecutor's reference to the nonexistence of mitigating evidence was not a comment on the defendant's failure to testify
How later courts described this case
- holding that the prosecutor's reference to the nonexistence of mitigating evidence was not a comment on the defendant's failure to testify
- To establish felony-murder, “the prosecution must establish that the defendant, either before or during the commission of the acts that caused in the victim’s death, had the specific intent to commit one of the listed felonies.”
- “[s]ufficiency-of-the-evidence review involves assessment 20 by the courts of whether the evidence adduced at trial could support any rational determination of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . This review should be independent of the jury’s determination that evidence on another count 21 was insufficient.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
MOSK, J., Concurring and Dissenting.
I concur in the opinion of the court in all respects save one: I would vacate the sentence of death as unreliable, in violation of both the cruel and unusual punishments clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and also the cruel or unusual punishment clause of article I, section 17 of the California Constitution, because trial counsel—who would make practically no argument at all to persuade the jury to spare appellant’s life—introduced no evidence whatsoever to serve as a basis for it to do so. (See People v. Bradford (1997) 15 *679 Cal.4th 1229, 1385 [ 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 145 , 939 P.2d 259 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [implying that any sentence of death should be vacated as unreliable under the Eighth Amendment and article I, section 17 if trial counsel introduced in mitigation none of the available evidence]; People v. Avena (1996) 13 Cal.4th 394, 449-450 [ 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 301 , 916 P.2d 1000 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; People v. Lucas (1995) 12 Cal.4th 415, 501-502 [ 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 525 , 907 P.2d 373 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; In re Ross (1995) 10 Cal.4th 184, 216, fn. 1 [ 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 544 , 892 P.2d 1287 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; People v. Stansbury (1995) 9 Cal.4th 824, 835 [ 38 Cal.Rptr.2d 394 , 889 P.2d 588 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same], reiterating People v. Stansbury (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1017, 1074 [ 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 174 , 846 P.2d 756 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.), revd. sub nom. Stansbury v. California (1994) 511 U.S. 318 [ 114 S.Ct. 1526 , 128 L.Ed.2d 293 ] (by the court); People v. Diaz (1992) 3 Cal.4th 495, 577 [ 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 353 , 834 P.2d 1171 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; see also People v. Howard (1992) 1 Cal.4th 1132, 1197 [ 5 Cal.Rptr.2d 268 , 824 P.2d 1315 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [finding a sentence of death unreliable under the Eighth Amendment and article I, section 17 when trial counsel introduced in mitigation none of the available evidence, albeit at the defendant’s request]; People v. Sanders (1990) 51 Cal.3d 471, 531-533 [ 273 Cal.Rptr. 537 , 797 P.2d 561 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; People v. Lang (1989) 49 Cal.3d 991, 1059-1062 [ 264 Cal.Rptr. 386 , 782 P.2d 627 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; People v. Williams (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1127, 1158-1161 [ 245 Cal.Rptr. 635 , 751 P.2d 901 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [to similar effect under the Eighth Amendment]; People v. Deere (1985) 41 Cal.3d 353, 360-368 [ 222 Cal.Rptr. 13 , 710 P.2d 925 ] [same].)
Appellant’s petition for a rehearing was denied June 27, 2001.