Merced

At the conclusion of his second trial a jury found defendant Juan A. Merced guilty as charged of the attempted premeditated murder of a peace officer involving the personal use of a firearm (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 664, subd. (e), 12022.5, subd. (a)) and being a past-convicted felon in possession of a firearm (Pen. Code, § 12021, subd. (a)). After finding true allegations that defendant had eight prior felony convictions, the trial court sentenced defendant to state prison for a total term of 65 years to life. Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal. In the published portion of this opinion, we reject defendant’s contention that the removal of a prospective juror is to be judged by the same standard for removal of a juror during deliberations. We further conclude that when the prospective juror has expressed a willingness to engage in jury nullification, the trial court is not required to undertake an inquiry into whether the particular details of the case to be tried present a tangible likelihood that, if seated and sworn, the prospective jurors will nullify.

Background

Establishing the pertinent circumstances of the crimes does not require a lengthy narrative because…