Tuilaepa v. California

In California, to sentence a defendant to death for first-degree murder the trier of fact must find the defendant guilty , and also find one or more of 19 special circumstances listed in Cal. Penal Code Ann. § 190.2 (West 1988 and Supp. 1994). The case then proceeds to the penalty phase, where the trier of fact must consider a number of specified factors in deciding whether to sentence the defendant to death. §190.3.* These two cases present the question whether three of the §190.3 penalty-phase factors are unconstitutionally vague under decisions of this Court construing the *970Cruel and…