Bramit

Defendant Michael Lamar Bramit was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of first degree murder and found that he personally used a firearm in the commission of the crime. The jury also found true the special circumstance that the murder occurred in the course of a robbery. [1] This appeal is automatic. We affirm the judgment.

Defendant does not contest the facts pointing to his guilt, nor did he do so below. [2] Several witnesses saw him murder Jose Fierros. Their testimony was corroborated by his extrajudicial statements, the admissibility of which he did not challenge. Therefore, the facts establishing defendant's guilt are stated briefly.

Around midnight on June 14, 1994, victim Fierros parked at a minimart in Banning, where two prostitutes separately propositioned him. However, after Fierros drove each of them away from the parking lot, he said he had no money and returned to the minimart with them.

Another prostitute, Rebecca Johnson, then got into Fierros's car. As they drove away, defendant and Anthony Miller, both of whom Johnson knew from previous drug transactions, ran toward the car and yelled at her. When Fierros stopped, defendant and…

I disagree with the majority regarding the trial court’s commutation instruction to the jury in response to its inquiries. In my view, such an instruction in that context was error. Moreover, the instruction was erroneously incomplete. I am bound by our prior case law, however, to *1251 conclude that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and on that basis concur in the majority’s result.

We held in People v. Ramos (1984) 37 Cal.3d 136, 159 [ 207 Cal.Rptr. 800 , 689 P.2d 430 ] (Ramos), that an instruction during the penalty phase of a capital trial sua sponte informing jurors of the possibility that the Governor may commute a life imprisonment without possibility of parole sentence—the so-called Briggs instruction—violates the due process clause of the California Constitution. The court reasoned that such an instruction (1) invites groundless speculation, (2) undermines a juror’s sense of personal responsibility, and (3) undermines the Governor’s power of commutation by encouraging jurors to preempt that power. (37 Cal.3d at pp. 156-158.) Nonetheless, the court recognized that if the jury itself raises a commutation issue, it “cannot be avoided” and should be addressed…

*1225 Opinion

Defendant Michael Lamar Bramit was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of first degree murder and found that he personally used a firearm in the commission of the crime. The jury also found true the special circumstance that the murder occurred in the course of a robbery. 1 This appeal is automatic. We affirm the judgment.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Guilt Phase

Defendant does not contest the facts pointing to his guilt, nor did he do so below. 2 Several witnesses saw him murder Jose Fierros. Their testimony was corroborated by his extrajudicial statements, the admissibility of which he did not challenge. Therefore, the facts establishing defendant’s guilt are stated briefly.

Around midnight on June 14, 1994, victim Fierros parked at a minimart in Banning, where two prostitutes separately propositioned him. However, after Fierros drove each of them away from the parking lot, he said he had no money and returned to the minimart with them.

Another prostitute, Rebecca Johnson, then got into Fierros’s car. As they drove away, defendant and Anthony Miller, both of whom Johnson knew from previous drug transactions, ran toward the car and yelled…