 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
People v. Epps6/27/1986
ope and meaning in other parts or portions of the law." (Stillwell v. State Bar (1946) 29 Cal. 2d 119, 123 [173 P.2d 313]; People v. McCart (1982) 32 Cal. 3d at pp. 338, 344 [185 Cal. Rptr. 284, 649 P.2d 926].) In appellant's view, if the first degree murder requirement of subdivision (a) of section 190.2 imposes the requirement that premeditation and deliberation must be established to find first degree murder independent of the felony-murder rule as to certain of the felonies listed in paragraph 17, then the same requirement must be applicable to the other felonies listed in paragraph 17. Were this argument the only basis of the Supreme Court's decision in Carlos, it would be very difficult to argue that the same principle does not apply to the elements of premeditation and
deliberation. But the Supreme Court in Carlos relied on other arguments, including the fact that the voter pamphlet suggested to the electorate that no one could be executed or sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole unless they intended to kill. A review of the initiative and the arguments in support or opposition thereto reasonably leads to the conclusion that the electorate expected that a defendant would have to be found to have intended to kill, as the court in Carlos concluded; a similar conclusion that the electorate assumed that the premeditation and deliberation requirement would remain is unreasonable. This view is reenforced by the fact that the initiative explicitly deleted any reference to premeditation or deliberation in the law brought before the people for their approval.
Proposition 7 explicitly deleted the premeditation and deliberation requirement and this deletion was not challenged before the electorate. Unlike the situation in Carlos, there is no other basis to conclude that the electorate intended to retain this requirement.
To the extent appellant attempts to challenge on constitutional grounds, the argument is without merit. Appellant relies on several decisions of the United States Supreme Court which, as appellant concedes, are capital cases.
A review of the pertinent portion of California's death penalty statute reveals detailed and objective descriptions of the specific circumstances under which the death penalty may be imposed in California. None of the guidelines set forth in Penal Code section 190.2 are under attack as vague or ambiguous. Rather, appellant merely contends that this court should read into the statute an additional term which would have the effect of limiting the circumstances under which the death penalty may be imposed, contrary to the express intent of the electorate to enlarge the number of cases in which the death penalty may be imposed. Imposition of the death penalty pursuant to California's death penalty law on a defendant who has intentionally and unlawfully killed another human being is not subject to constitutional nullification provided the discretion of the sentencing authority is governed by "'clear and objective standards.'" (Godfrey v. Georgia (1980) 446 U.S. 420, 428 [64 L.Ed.2d 398, 406, 100 S.Ct. 1759].) The statute in question herein is not attacked for failure to satisfy this requirement. There is no authority to support appellant's implicit contention that the death penalty is always inappropriate unless the defendant committed a premeditated and deliberate as well as intentional homicide.
In any event, it cannot be concluded that the statute is unconstitutional as applied to appellant because appellant was not sentenced to die. Appellant was sentenced
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 California DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|