What is the role of a jury in the penalty phase of a death penalty trial?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Bacigalupo, 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 808, 6 Cal.4th 457, 862 P.2d 808 (Cal. 1993):

Thus, under California's 1978 death penalty scheme, the task that the jury performs at the penalty phase of the trial is "essentially normative." (People v. Edelbacher (1989) 47 Cal.3d 983, 1037, 254 Cal.Rptr. 586, 766 P.2d 1.) Representing the community at large, the jury applies "its own moral standards to the aggravating and mitigating evidence presented" and has the "ultimate responsibility for determining if death is the appropriate penalty for the particular offense and offender." (Ibid.)

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What is the role of a jury in the penalty phase of a death penalty trial?

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