Lewis

I concur in the opinion of the court in all respects save one: I would vacate the sentence of death as unreliable, in violation of both the cruel and unusual punishments clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and also the cruel or unusual punishment clause of article I, section 17 of the California Constitution, because trial counsel—who would make practically no argument at all to persuade the jury to spare appellant’s life—introduced no evidence whatsoever to serve as a basis for it to do so. (See People v. Bradford (1997) 15 *679 Cal.4th 1229, 1385 [ 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 145 , 939 P.2d 259 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [implying that any sentence of death should be vacated as unreliable under the Eighth Amendment and article I, section 17 if trial counsel introduced in mitigation none of the available evidence]; People v. Avena (1996) 13 Cal.4th 394, 449-450 [ 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 301 , 916 P.2d 1000 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; People v. Lucas (1995) 12 Cal.4th 415, 501-502 [ 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 525 , 907 P.2d 373 ] (conc. & dis. opn. of Mosk, J.) [same]; In re Ross (1995) 10 Cal.4th 184, 216, fn. 1 [ 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 544 , 892 P.2d 1287 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk,…

A jury convicted defendant Milton Otis Lewis of one count of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187), 1 and found true the special circumstance allegations of robbery murder (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(i) [now subd. (a)(17)(A)]), and burglary murder (§ 190.2, former subd. (a)(17)(vii) [now subd. (a)(17)(G)]). The jury also convicted defendant of two counts of robbery, one count of burglary, and one count of attempted murder. At the penalty phase, the jury returned a verdict of death for the first degree murder with special circumstances. After denying defendant’s automatic motion to modify the death verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)), the trial court sentenced defendant to death for the first degree murder, and to a total determinate term of 21 years in state prison for the remaining counts.

Defendant’s appeal to this court is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We will affirm the judgment in its entirety.

I. Facts

A. The Prosecution’s Guilt Phase Evidence

In December 1988, James and Helen Rumsey lived in a unit of the Shasta Pines Apartments in Redding. Marie Baker, a methamphetamine user, lived in another unit in the same building. Staying with Baker at that time was…