Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: jury disagreed with sentence

Juries in California decide only whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. They play no role in sentencing, except in capital cases.

Jurors are not supposed to know what sentence the defendant might receive if he is convicted. Why? Precisely because, as would have happened here, they would sometimes alter their verdict based upon how they feel about the sentence. The rules are designed to prevent that from happening. Those rules worked as intended in this case.

If a judge or a lawyer lets the jury know what sentence might result from a conviction, that would be grounds for a mistrial. That this particular jury never got the information does not mean there was an error. In fact, it means there was not.

Nothing was "swept under the rug" as you say. This is how it is supposed to work. There may be some other reason why this man might be eligible for some sort of relief, but that the juror's surprise at his sentence will not be helpful to him.

I'm sorry I can't be more encouraging.