In California, when ajury convicts a defendantoffirst degree murder, the maximum punishmentis imprisonment for a term of 25 yearstolife. (Pen. Code, § 190, subd.(a) [cross-referencing §§ 190.1, 190.2, 190.3, 190.4 and 190.5].) When the jury returns a verdict offirst degree murder with a true finding of a special circumstance listed in Penal Code section 190.2, the penalty range increasesto either life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or death. (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a).)

In the first place, no one below age 18 is eligible for capital punishment’”’; urging appellant’s youth (age 19 at the time of the offense) to be disregarded as mitigation on the ground he wasa legal adult renders the statutory sentencing factor meaningless, since the death penalty only applies to legal adults in any event. Secondly, “heinousness”is unconstitutionally vague’; by definition, every case that reaches the penalty phase does so because there has been a murder conviction plus a special circumstance finding; again,this asserted justification could be applied to every capital case. '°7 Roper v. Simmons (2005) 543 U.S. 551; California Penal Code § 190.5. 8 See, Maynard v. Cartwright (1988) 486 U.S. 356 [holding that Oklahoma’s “heinous, atrocious, and cruel” aggravating circumstance was unconstitutionally vague]; Godfrey v. Georgia (1980) 446 U.S. 420, 64 L. Ed. 2d 398, 100 S. Ct. 1759 (1980); Furman v. Georgia (1972) 408 USS. 238. 239 Switching gears, respondentposits that it is perfectly acceptable for a prosecutor to argue age in aggravation. (RB 241, citing People v. Lucky (1988) 45 Cal.3d 259, 302.)

(Ring, supra, 536 U.S. at 604.) Penal Code section 190, subd. (a) provides that the punishmentfor first-degree murder is 25 yearsto life, life without possibility of parole (““LWOP”), or death; the penalty to be applied “shall be determined as provided in Sections 190.1, 190.2, 190.3, 190.4 and 190.5.” Neither LWOP nor death can be imposed unless the jury finds a special circumstance(section 190.2).

726. The class of first degree murderers is narrowed to a death- eligible class not only by the special circumstances of section 190.2, but also by Penal Code section 190.5, which forbids application of the death penalty to anyone under the age of eighteen at the time of the commission of the crime. When juvenile first-degree murderers are excluded from the calculation, the result is that more than 84 percent of first degree murderers are statutorily death eligible under Penal Code section 190.2.

" (Ring, supra, 530 U.S. at 604.) Section 190, subd. (a) provides that the punishment for first degree murder is 25 years to life, life without possibility of parole ("LWOP"), or death; the penalty to be applied "shall be determined as provided in Sections 190.1, 190.2, 190.3, 190.4 and 190.5." Neither LWOP nor death can be imposed unless the jury finds a special circumstance (section 190.2).

(Ring, supra, 530 U.S. at 604.) Section 190, subd. (a), provides that the punishment for first degree murder is 25 years to life, life without possibility of parole ("LWOP"), or death; the penalty to be applied "shall be determined as provided in Sections 190.1, 190.2, 190.3, 190.4 and 190.5." Neither LWOP nor death can be imposed unless the jury finds a special circumstance (section 190.2).

1997) 16 Cal. 4th 635 ooocccccecccccsesssscssesecessseceeceesereaes 8 People v. Zapien (1993) 4 Cal. 4th 929 oooccccecccccscsescssessessessececeseserceseessees 94 State v. McConnell (Nev., 2004) 102 P.3d 606 wwe. 106, 107, 111, 112 State ex rel. Simmons v. Roper (Mo. 2003) 112 S.W. 343997 Lowes 163 FEDERAL STATUTES U-S. Const., Amend. VI ooiiiceicccecceccecsssccscssecesscesanecessessescsuceessueessecensscesesecs 40 U.S. Const., 8th & 14th Amends. oieccceececcscceseccecesscesseeesscsessscessesecens 136 ~xiii- STATE STATUTES Cal. Const., art. 1, §§ 7 8 15 ceceeeieecsssscescesesseeeseseenesseeseeneeecnetanserseres 136, 137 California Penal Code section 190.2 ......ccceeeccceseessseesesseseneesssensensenses 117, 122 California Penal Code section 190.2(a)(17) .....:ccccccecsessseereseeeeteeeeeeseneseeneees 117 California Penal Code section 190.3 oo... eeeeessseeseeereesseeereeesees 108, 144, 154 California Pen. Code, § 190.4 woo. eeecceesessceseecseenesseseneesaeenreeaeseaeseeeereeeees 160 California Penal Code section 190.5 wi.ciciceessssseesesceeeeseesteseaeeneeeteeneeeeeeteees 122 California Penal Code section 1239 .o.eescessescscesssessecseeeeseessesesecseensereseseeeenees 1 MISCELLANEOUS "Twenty-Fourth Annual Review of Criminal Procedure," 83 Georgetown L.J. 665, 1365 (March-April 1995.) ....eceeeeeseeeeeeeeeeees 72 Soering v. United Kingdom: Whether the Continued Use ofthe Death Penalty in the United States Contradicts International Thinking (1990) 16 Crim. And Civ. Confinement 339, 366 ........eccceceeccccceseceeeeesseeeesereeees 169 -XIV- IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA No. 25297 Defendant and Appellant. ) PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ) ) S054569 Plaintiff and Respondent, ) Automatic Appeal ) (Capital Case) Vv. ) ) ) ) Stanislaus County DANIEL LEE WHALEN, ) Superior Court ) ) ) APPELLANT’S REPLY BRIEF INTRODUCTION This matter is an automatic appeal from a judgment of death made directly to this Court pursuantto Penal Codesection 1239.'