The Supreme Court last week affirmed the death sentence in People v. Jasso for a 2003 robbery-murder of a taxicab driver in Indio. The defendant’s trial wasn’t perfect, however.
The court’s unanimous opinion by Justice Leondra Kruger found hearsay statements made by the defendant’s accomplice were improperly admitted, but it concluded the issue was forfeited by defense counsel’s failure to object and it deferred to a habeas corpus petition the question whether the failure constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. Admission of another hearsay statement might have been wrong, the court also found, but it was harmless error.
The court also determined to have been harmless a felony murder instruction that became erroneous under subsequent legislation, SB 1437. The opinion states that, “given the evidence at trial, the jury could not have found true either the robbery-murder special circumstance or the firearm-use enhancements without also concluding that Jasso was the actual killer, which would make him ineligible for relief under Senate Bill 1437.”
