California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. Nunez, B215886, No. SA057247 (Cal. App. 2010):
To support his claim, appellant relies heavily on People v. Cash (2002) 28 Cal.4th 703. In that death penalty case, Cash's counsel was not allowed to ask a prospective juror whether there were "'any particular crimes' or 'any facts' that would cause that juror 'automatically to vote for the death penalty.'" (Id. at p. 719.) Counsel argued this question was necessary because the jury would learn during the penalty phase that Cash previously had killed his elderly grandparents. The trial court denied the request with this comment: "'I am not permitting you to ask them about any specific acts of mitigation or aggravation, as that would[,] in my opinion[,] have them prejudge the evidence.'" (Ibid.)
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