Is the death penalty disproportionate to a defendant's individual culpability?

We do, however, examine the circumstances of cases in which death sentences have been imposed to determine whether the penalty is disproportionate to a defendant's individual culpability. (See, e.g., People v. Jennings, supra, 46 Cal.3d 963, 995, 251 Cal.Rptr. 278, 760 P.2d 475.) Having conducted such an examination in this case, we conclude that the death penalty is not disproportionate. To steal money and cigarettes, defendant took the life of another human being in a deliberate, callous, and brutal fashion; both the trial court and the jury found defendant's claims of provocation not credible; and, finally, the crime was not an isolated incident, but part of an escalating pattern of violence.

[52 Cal.3d 646] H. Multiple Punishment Proscription