In what circumstances will the court overturn a torture-murder special-circumstance finding?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Wade, 244 Cal.Rptr. 905, 44 Cal.3d 975, 750 P.2d 794 (Cal. 1988):

[750 P.2d 805] Defendant contends that, given the Davenport holding, the torture-murder special-circumstance finding in this case must be reversed because the special circumstance instruction failed to inform the jury that the specific intent to torture was an element of the special circumstance. (See, e.g., People v. Leach (1985) 41 Cal.3d 92, 110, 221 Cal.Rptr. 826, 710 P.2d 893.) Although the special circumstance instruction, viewed in isolation, did not, by its express terms, explain that the "infliction of torture" element of the special circumstance included an intent-to-inflict-cruel-pain requirement, 13 we believe that in light of the accompanying torture-murder instructions and the argument of counsel on this point there is no reasonable likelihood that the jury was misled on this issue.

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