John Roemer reports in today’s Daily Journal [subscription] that since Justice Goodwin Liu’s lone, long concurring and dissenting opinion a year ago in People v. Jackson (2014) 58 Cal.4th 724, 774, the court has reversed death sentences four times and, with two additional appointees of Governor Jerry Brown, “appears to take much more seriously its role in scrutinizing capital appeals.”
In Jackson, a 6-1 court found to be harmless the trial court’s error in requiring the defendant to wear a stun belt during trial. Justice Liu concluded that the court’s holding was a sign of a systemic problem: “the dubious reasoning in today’s decision is not an isolated lapse in our harmless error jurisprudence.”
The court has recently decided two civil cases regarding causation. (Here and here.) Whether there is a causative link between Justice Liu’s separate opinion in Jackson and the four subsequent death penalty reversals — all unanimous decisions (see here, here, and here) — is debatable.
As we’ve said, a better indicator of a shift in the court’s handling of automatic death penalty appeals might be in how the court deals with Batson/Wheeler issues in People v. Scott, a case in which the court asked for post-argument briefing. Another bellwether, especially on the issue of harmless error, could be the court’s opinion after rehearing in People v. Grimes.
The court should file its opinion in Scott on Thursday or next Monday. Grimes is awaiting re-argument.
