Sánchez

Filed 6/23/

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, )

) Plaintiff and Respondent, ) ) S045423 v. ) )

EDGARDO SÁNCHEZ, )

) Los Angeles County Defendant and Appellant. ) Super. Ct. No. LA011426 ____________________________________)

A jury convicted defendant, Edgardo Sánchez, of the first degree murder of Officer John A. Hoglund under the special circumstances of murder to prevent arrest, murder of a peace officer, and murder in the commission of robbery; of the first degree murder of Lee Chul Kim under the special circumstance of murder in the commission of robbery; of the attempted murder of Luis Enrique Medina; and of 26 counts of robbery, two counts of attempted robbery, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of assault with a stun gun. The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murder and that defendant personally used a firearm as to many, although not all, of the counts. After a penalty trial, the jury returned a verdict of death. The court denied the automatic motion to…

A jury convicted defendant, Edgardo Sánchez, of the first degree murder of Officer John A. Hoglund under the special circumstances of murder to prevent arrest, murder of a peace officer, and murder in the commission of *420 robbery; of the first degree murder of Lee Chul Kim under the special circumstance of murder in the commission of robbery; of the attempted murder of Luis Enrique Medina; and of 26 counts of robbery, two counts of attempted robbery, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of assault with a stun gun. The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murder and that defendant personally used a firearm as to many, although not all, of the counts. After a penalty trial, the jury returned a verdict of death. The court denied the automatic motion to modify the verdict and imposed a judgment of death. This appeal is automatic. We reverse one robbery count, modify the determinate prison sentence accordingly, and otherwise affirm the judgment.

I. The Facts

A. Guilt Phase

1. Overview

Defendant and several cohorts, usually including his two codefendants, Jose Contreras and Benjamin Navarro, committed seven separate…

Concurring.—I write separately to highlight two issues in this case that are ripe for reconsideration by this court. The first concerns the relevance of comparative juror analysis in determining whether a defendant has established a prima facie case of racial discrimination in jury selection under Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79 [ 90 L.Ed.2d 69 , 106 S.Ct. 1712 ] (Batson) and People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258 [ 148 Cal.Rptr. 890 , 583 P.2d 748 ] (Wheeler). The second concerns California’s standard instruction on how juries should evaluate eyewitness identification evidence, a topic on which scientific research has shed important light in recent decades.

I.

Today’s opinion holds that the trial court did not err when it found no prima facie case of racial discrimination in the prosecutor’s use of peremptory strikes against several Hispanic jurors. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 433^-40.) *489 In reaching this conclusion, the court posits various nondiscriminatory reasons for why the prosecutor would have wanted to strike those jurors. (Id. at pp. 436-437, 439.) I agree that those reasons are apparent and clearly established in the record. However, the court goes on to say:…