SB 1437/775: A Snapshot of Impact
OSPD’s White Paper Reports on the Death Penalty to Committee on Revision of the Penal Code
On April 9, 2024 OSPD along with co-counsel, ACLU NorCal, ACLU Capital Punishment Project, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and WilmerHale, filed a petition for writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court asserting that California’s death penalty laws have been applied in a racially discriminatory manner in violation of the state Constitution’s equal protection guarantee.
On June 17, 2020, the California Supreme Court ordered supplemental briefing on a claim raised in People v. Don’te McDaniel, No. S171393. Specifically, the Court asked for the Attorney General to address the questions “Do Penal Code section 1042 and article I, section 16 of the California Constitution require that the jury unanimously determine beyond a reasonable doubt factually disputed aggravating evidence and the ultimate penalty verdict? If so, was appellant prejudice by the trial court’s failure to so instruct the jury?”
This is an issue with potentially wide-ranging impact because Mr. McDaniel’s penalty phase trial was not unique. No jury in the history of the modern California death penalty has been instructed that it must make the determination between life and death under the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, and no jury has been required to find factually disputed aggravating factors unanimously at the penalty phase of a capital trial.
Because of the importance of this issue, OSPD is making available the major pleadings in the case, including the briefs of the parties and those of amicus curiae, who include California Governor Gavin Newsom and six present or former District Attorneys (Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Bectin, San Francisco County District Attorney Chesa Boudin, former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jefferey Rosen, and San Joaqin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar).
Legal Briefs and Filings
McDaniel Order for Supplemental Briefing
McDaniel Amicus Brief of the Honorable Gavin Newsom
McDaniel Amicus Brief of Six Present or Former District Attorneys
McDaniel Amicus Brief of California Constitutional Law Scholars
McDaniel Amicus Brief of Janet C. Hoeffel, Rory K. Little, Emad H. Atiq, and James Q. Whitman
McDaniel Amicus Brief of Vicente Benavides Figueroa and Manuel Lopez
McDaniel Amicus Brief of ACLU, ACLU of Northern California, and ACLU of Southern California
McDaniel Amicus Brief of California District Attorneys Association