Does the court err in admonishing the jury not to consider the penalty?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Hoover, 187 Cal.App.3d 1074, 231 Cal.Rptr. 203 (Cal. App. 1986):

Regardless of the contradictions inherent in Hoover's assertion of prejudice, the court did not err. The subject of the death penalty was raised not by the court or prosecutor but by a prospective juror, and failure to address and dispel this person's concerns might have resulted in improper consideration of such punishment by the jury ultimately selected. ⁴ Any potential for harm was averted by the court's immediate and subsequent admonitions that the jury was not to consider the subject of punishment in its deliberations. (Cf. People v. Holt, supra, 37 Cal.3d at p. 458, 208 Cal.Rptr. 547, 690 P.2d 1207 [court failed to cure error from prosecutor's reference to punishment by admonishing jury not to consider penalty].) Given the need for a response to the prospective juror's concerns, coupled with the giving of the appropriate admonishments, the court did not err in proceeding as it did.

[187 Cal.App.3d 1085]

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