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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
ed counsel. The trial court denied the motion. We reject defendant's contention that the trial court erred in so ruling. We have already concluded that the trial court did not err when it denied the motion to replace counsel. (Pt. VI.A., ante.) Because this ruling was not erroneous, it did not provide a ground for a new trial.
D. Disproportionality of Death Penalty
In support of the automatic motion to modify the verdict of death (§ 190.4, subd. (e)), defendant submitted motion papers arguing that the penalty verdict should be set aside because the penalty of death was disproportionate to his individual culpability. The trial court denied the motion. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in so ruling because the penalty of death is disproportionate in view of the lesser sentences imposed in other cases for crimes of greater culpability, the uncertainty of the evidence establishing defendant premeditated the killing of Sergeant Wolfley, and the circumstances under which the killing occurred.
Defendant was not entitled to intercase proportionality review comparing the facts of his case with those of other defendants who were not sentenced to death. ( People v. Crittenden, (supra) , 9 Cal. 4th 83, 156-157; People v. Rodrigues, (supra) , 8 Cal. 4th 1060, 1196.) We have previously rejected defendant's claim that the evidence is insufficient to establish premeditation and deliberation in the killing of Sergeant Wolfley. (See pt. IV.K., ante.) We now reaffirm our Conclusion that the evidence was sufficient to establish that defendant killed Sergeant Wolfley deliberately and with premeditation rather than submit to questioning and possible arrest. Although defendant testified that Sergeant Wolfley acted in a provocative and abusive manner, both the jury and the trial Judge reasonably could and evidently did disbelieve that testimony. Given that defendant personally and intentionally killed Sergeant Wolfley, and given also defendant's record of prior felony convictions, the penalty of death is not "so disproportionate that it shocks the conscience and offends fundamental notions of human dignity. [Citations.]" ( People v. Livaditis (1992) 2 Cal. 4th 759, 786 [9 Cal. Rptr. 2d 72, 831 P.2d 297]; see also People v. Beeler (1995) 9 Cal. 4th 953, 994 [39 Cal. Rptr. 2d 607, 891, 995 P.2d 153].) Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying the motion to reduce the penalty of death.
VIII. DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
George, C. J., Mosk, J., Baxter, J., Werdegar, J., Chin, J., and Brown, J., concurred.
Appellant's petition for a rehearing was denied March 19, 1997, and the opinion was modified to read as printed.
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