The Supreme Court today affirms the death sentence in People v. Erskine for the 1993 murders of two boys, ages 9 and 13. The jury found special circumstances of torture and of a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14. A second jury recommended death after the first jury deadlocked on the penalty.
The court’s unanimous, relatively short (for a capital appeal) 37-page opinion by Justice Goodwin Liu rules against the defendant on all issues he raised, including the death penalty’s constitutionality in light of extended testimony and “several social science studies purporting to show that capital jurors in various states do not follow the constitutional guidelines established” by the U.S. Supreme Court, the admissibility of other-crimes evidence, and the excusing of a prospective juror who expressed views against capital punishment. The court does hold there was instructional error during the trial’s penalty phase, but concludes the error was harmless.