The Supreme Court today affirms the death sentence in People v. Thomas for a 1992 Riverside County robbery-murder. When the death penalty was imposed, Thomas had already been sentenced to life in prison in Texas for a 1995 murder. The court relates that Thomas said he wanted to be acquitted at his California trial, but if he weren’t, he wanted a death sentence; not to be executed, but “because it ‘enriches and enhances certain areas of postconviction remedies that Iām definitely seeking.’ ā
The court’s unanimous opinion by retired Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye finds “somewhat close” the question whether the superior court erred in admitting detailed evidence of the Texas murder, but ultimately concludes there was no abuse of discretion, even though “another trial court might have reasonably reached a different conclusion.”
The court also rejects a number of other appellate arguments, including that defendant was denied adequate funding when he was representing himself pre-trial, that there was insufficient evidence to support the robbery special circumstance finding, that the superior court improperly denied as untimely his motion to represent himself at the trial’s penalty phase, and that the trial judge coerced the jurors to continue deliberations after they reported a deadlock.
Cantil-Sakauye signed the opinion as a pro tem justice, appointed by her successor, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero. This might be Cantil-Sakauye’s last authored opinion. There are only four undecided cases left in which she has heard oral argument. (See here, here, and here.)