The Supreme Court today affirms the death penalties in People v. Mora and Rangel even though the court finds error in a jury instruction about aiding and abetting murder. The court’s opinion by Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar finds the error harmless because the evidence supporting the jury’s finding is “overwhelming.” The court also rejects many of the defendants’ other claims, including that discovery delays prejudiced their case and that the court should have dismissed a juror who, before voir dire, had spoken with one defendant’s mother and learned of a plea bargain proposal.
Justice Goodwin Liu writes separately. He disagrees that substantial evidence supports an attempted robbery special circumstance finding, but agrees with affirming the death sentences because a different special circumstance finding is valid.