Platz

Defendant Lisa Ann Platz will spend the rest of her life in prison for the death of her nine-year-old daughter. She alone is criminally liable, although many others set in motion or contributed to the events that led to her daughter’s tragic death. Those participants and their decisions, however, are not before us. We must affirm the jury’s verdict convicting Lisa of murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) and finding true the special circumstance that the murder occurred during the commission of a kidnapping (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) because her legal challenges are without merit and we cannot say any of the evidentiary or prosecutorial errors resulted in a miscarriage of justice. If there was a miscarriage of justice in this case, it preceded the kidnapping and death of the child and therefore is not one we have the ability to review or to rectify.

FACTS

After a six-month attempt at sobriety and law-abiding conduct, Jose Aramburo began dating Lisa, whom he found attractive. She became pregnant, and their daughter Rebbeca was bom on April 4, 1992. Not long after that, their relationship deteriorated. The police were called on a number of occasions following reports of…