What is the test for removing a prospective juror from a death penalty trial?

California statutory law requires that following a challenge for cause, a prospective juror "must neither be permitted nor compelled to serve as a juror" in a capital case if he entertains "such conscientious opinions as would preclude his finding the defendant guilty . . . ." ( 1074, subd. 8.) ⁷ Although the literal wording of section 1074, subdivision 8, authorizes removal for cause only when a juror's scruples [28 Cal.3d 9] would have an impact upon the determination of guilt, this statute has been judicially construed to require the exclusion of jurors whose views on capital punishment would affect their penalty determination alone. (People v. Riser, supra, 47 Cal.2d at pp. 573-576, 305 P.2d 1.) Riser was decided in an era when the jury in a death penalty case considered the issues of guilt and punishment simultaneously. ⁸

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