Bonilla

A jury convicted defendant Steven Wayne Bonilla of first degree murder with murder-for-financial-gain and lying-in-wait special circumstances for the 1987 killing of Jerry Lee Harris. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189, 190.2, subd. (a)(1), 190.2, former subd. (a)(15).) Bonilla’s first penalty phase trial ended in a hung jury; at his second penalty phase trial, the jury returned a death verdict. On automatic appeal, we affirm the judgment in its entirety.

Factual and Procedural Background

Guilt Phase Trial

Prosecution Evidence

Jerry Lee Harris was a San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur. Harris and Bonilla were longtime friends, and Bonilla occasionally assisted Harris with his business ventures. In particular, Bonilla invested in a Harris plant nursery and rental business, Tiffany’s, and in a Harris rebar fabricating business, and managed a Harris lounge, the Penthouse.

In 1986, Harris decided to open a Cupertino nightclub called Baritz. As he had on some previous occasions, he borrowed $232,000 in seed money from Bonilla’s mother. Bonilla supposedly could not formally become a partner in Baritz until 1989 because of Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control regulations, but in…