How have the courts treated a defendant's special instruction in a death penalty case?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Seaton, 110 Cal.Rptr.2d 441, 26 Cal.4th 598, 28 P.3d 175 (Cal. 2001):
Defendant faults the trial court for not giving his special instruction No. 10. The proposed instruction said that the mitigating factors mentioned in the court's other instructions were merely examples and the jury should also consider any other mitigating circumstances shown
[110 Cal.Rptr.2d 506]
by the evidence; that a single mitigating factor is sufficient to support a determination that death is not the appropriate penalty; that a mitigating factor need only be shown by substantial evidence, and need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt; and that the jury could use mercy, sympathy, or sentiment in deciding what weight to give each mitigating factor. The trial court gave only that part of the proposed instruction telling the jury that mitigating factors need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The court acted properly. Parts of the instruction were redundant of other instructions given (e.g., the statement that the jury could consider sympathy), parts of it were wrong (e.g., the statement that mitigating factors need only be shown by substantial evidence), and parts were argumentative (e.g., the statement that one mitigating factor could outweigh all aggravating factors) (see People v. Hines, supra, 15 Cal.4th 997, 1069, 64 Cal.Rptr.2d 594, 938 P.2d 388).[110 Cal.Rptr.2d 506]
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