People v. Hines

In this capital ease, in which defendant entered a plea of guilty of murder in the first degree and in which the jury fixed the penalty at death, we reverse the judgment insofar as it relates to the penalty. The instructions and the prosecutor’s argument in the penalty trial gave rise to the errors which we condemned in People v. Morse (1964) 60 Cal.2d 631 [36 Cal.Rptr. 201, 388 P.2d 33] ; these errors, we find, were substantial. Because of the nature of the penalty trial, any substantial error, as we explain, causes prejudice. We reject, however, defendant’s contention that he suffered…