Does the amendment to the lying-in-wait special circumstance in a murder case in which there is a distinction between the special circumstance and lying in-wait first degree murder?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Johnson, 197 Cal.Rptr.3d 461, 364 P.3d 359, 62 Cal.4th 600 (Cal. 2016):

distinction between the special circumstance and lying-in-wait first degree murder, and thereby expand the class of cases in which the special circumstance could be found true, the question remains whether the special circumstance provision still adequately distinguishes itself from other murders and does so in terms that are not so vague as to permit arbitrary determinations regarding the truth of the special circumstance allegation. (Tuilaepa v. California, supra, 512 U.S. at pp. 971972, 114 S.Ct. 2630.) For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the amended lying-in-wait special circumstance satisfies the Eighth Amendment in both respects.

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