Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Deliberating Death Penalty Sentence / Changing Verdicts

The jury's role in capital cases is important because, if it recommends life in prison, then the judge cannot impose the death penalty. Even when the jury recommends death the judge has the final say because the jury's recommendation is not binding as it is in most other situations.

Judges generally have the authority to overrule a jury's decision where the evidence does not support it. This does not mean she can overrule the jury whenever she disagrees with its decision. In most cases reasonable people can disagree, and when that happens the jury's decision must stand even if the judge feels very strongly that the outcome should have been different. Sometimes, though, a jury's decision results from prejudice or a misunderstanding of the applicable rules. In these situations, no reasonable person would have reached the same result and it is the court's responsibility to throw out the jury's decision. All the judge is doing is making sure the jury did at least the minimum required of it, and is not simply imposing her preferences in place of theirs.

Judges sometimes make the wrong decisions when they do these things, but the same is true of everything else judges (and the rest of us) do. When they get it right, their role is as I described above and does not significantly interfere with that of the jury.