How have the courts treated the defense's request for a special instruction against "double counting" the crimes and the special circumstances?

The trial court refused to give the defense's requested special instruction against "double counting" the crimes and the special circumstances. As defendant acknowledges, " '[w]e have already concluded that the standard instructions do not inherently encourage the double counting of aggravating factors. [Citations.] We have also recognized repeatedly that the absence of an instruction cautioning against double counting does not warrant reversal in the absence of any misleading argument by the prosecutor.' " (People v. Ayala (2000) 24 Cal.4th 243, 289, quoting People v. Barnett (1998) 17 Cal.4th 1044, 1180.) Defendant acknowledges the prosecutor did not urge the jury to double count the circumstances of the crime and the special circumstances, and did not argue that each separate special circumstance should be considered a separate aggravating circumstance. We therefore reject defendant's claim of error.

Page 105

3. Refusal to Instruct on Entitlement of Defendant to Individual Judgment of the Jurors