Thomas

Defendant Correll Lament Thomas was convicted of the first degree murder of Creed Grote and the attempted murder of Troy Ortiz. He was also convicted of the second degree murder of Ricky McDonald. As special circumstances of the Grote murder, the jury found that defendant lay in wait, discharged a firearm from a vehicle with intent to inflict death, and committed multiple murders. It also found that defendant personally used a firearm in the Grote/Ortiz crimes, and that he thereby intended to inflict great bodily injury or death upon Grote. Finally, the jury found that defendant had two prior serious felony convictions within the meaning of the “Three Strikes” law. Defendant was sentenced to death.

This appeal is automatic. We affirm the judgment.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Guilt Phase

1. The Murder of Ricky McDonald

a. Prosecution evidence

Nicole Halstead, defendant’s girlfriend, was a principal prosecution witness. Before relating the facts surrounding the Ricky McDonald murder, Halstead testified about a violent encounter that defendant and Kazi Cooksey had with Darrell Milton an hour earlier. Neither defendant nor Cooksey was charged with crimes against Milton.…