In what circumstances will a jury be able to determine whether a defendant is guilty of multiple murder on the special circumstance allegation?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Marshall, 13 Cal.4th 799, 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 347, 919 P.2d 1280 (Cal. 1996):

Here, the trial court's ruling, in effect, operated like a special verdict. In not submitting to the jury the issue of defendant's "guilt" on the multiple-murder special-circumstance allegation, the trial court usurped the jury's historic constitutional power to return a general verdict on the ultimate question of the truth or falsity of a criminal charge (here, the special circumstance allegation that rendered defendant eligible for the death penalty). The court, in effect, made the finding on the special circumstance. In short, "the wrong entity judge[d] ... defendant guilty." (Sullivan v. Louisiana, supra, 508 U.S. at p. 281, 113 S.Ct. at p. 2082.)

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