Are there any cases where a defendant was denied the right to the death penalty by a jury?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Sassounian, 182 Cal.App.3d 361, 226 Cal.Rptr. 880 (Cal. App. 1986):
However, this view has been expressly rejected in California, mostly recently in People v. Fields (1983) 35 Cal.3d 329, 349, 197 Cal.Rptr. 803, 673 P.2d 680. 57 Fields held that persons not willing to vote for the death penalty are not a cognizable group, the exclusion of which would violate some constitutional interest of a capital defendant. We are bound by that decision here.
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