The Supreme Court today affirms the death sentence in People v. Ramirez for the 2005 murder of a San Leandro police officer by the then-23-year-old defendant.
The unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye rejects numerous arguments, including that the superior court erroneously modified the standard instruction on the degree of murder, that over a dozen uniformed police officers were improperly allowed to be present during parts of the trial (the Supreme Court concludes, “we cannot say that the risk of undue influence here was unacceptably high”), and that victim impact statements from the murdered victim’s police colleagues shouldn’t have been introduced.
As it has in recent death penalty opinions (e.g., here), the court summarily dismissed a challenge to the rule that juries are not required to make unanimous findings beyond a reasonable doubt on aggravating factors, despite the court’s signaling in the pending McDaniel appeal that it will reconsider the rule. (See also here, here, and here.)