Error and/or relief
A jury convicted the defendant of five counts of first degree murder and found true five multiple-murder special circumstances (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(3)). The trial court sentenced him to five consecutive state prison terms of life without parole for the murder counts. It was error to submit to the jury more than one multiple-murder special circumstance allegation of multiple murder, and four must be stricken. However, this does not affect the sentence because the trial court properly applied the special circumstance to impose life without parole for all five murder counts.
First Holding:
The jury should have found only one multiple-murder special circumstance rather than five.
Authority:
PEN 190.2(a)(3)
People v. Mickey (1991) 54 Cal.3d 612, 678
People v. Garnica (1994) 29 Cal.App.4th 1558, 1563–1564