NewsCalifornia News

Actions

California Supreme Court upholds death penalty rules

California Death Penalty
Posted
and last updated

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s top court has rejected an attempt to make it harder to impose the death penalty.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of the current system where jurors need not unanimously agree on aggravating factors used to justify the punishment.

Jurors already must unanimously agree to impose a death sentence, and to do so must decide that aggravating factors outweigh mitigating circumstances. But the justices ruled in a 7-0 decision that they don't have to unanimously agree on each aggravating factor.

They also rejected requiring that both the death sentence and the specific aggravating circumstances be justified beyond a reasonable doubt.

,

Weather

Daily Forecast

View Hourly Forecast

Day

Conditions

HI / LO

Precip

Thursday

01/16/2025

Clear

-° / 38°

0%

Friday

01/17/2025

Clear

66° / 37°

2%

Saturday

01/18/2025

Clear

62° / 36°

3%

Sunday

01/19/2025

Clear

62° / 35°

4%

Monday

01/20/2025

Mostly Clear

62° / 35°

2%

Tuesday

01/21/2025

Partly Cloudy

64° / 35°

1%

Wednesday

01/22/2025

Clear

62° / 37°

1%

Thursday

01/23/2025

Clear

67° / 40°

6%