How have the courts treated a defense counsel's refusal to object to rulings that excluded potential jurors on their own motion on the death penalty?

First, we note that the court excluded the potential jurors on its own motion after eliciting their views on the death penalty, and that counsel failed to object. It continues to be the rule that "the failure to object does not waive the right to raise the issue on appeal [citation]...." (People v. Cox (1991) 53 Cal.3d 618, 648, fn. 4, 280 Cal.Rptr. 692, 809 P.2d 351.) But the failure to object to the rulings "does suggest defense counsel's concurrence in the court's assessment of each venireperson's firm and sincere expression of his or her inability to impose the death penalty." (Ibid.)