THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LARRY JUNIOR WEBSTER, Defendant and Appellant; In re LARRY JUNIOR WEBSTER on Habeas Corpus, 54 Cal. 3d 411

Opinion BAXTER, J. Defendant Larry Junior Webster and three other men were jointly tried on charges arising from the death of William Burke. A jury convicted defendant of first degree murder with personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189, 12022, subd. (b)), robbery (§211), conspiracy to commit first degree murder and robbery (§ 182, former subd. 1 [now subd. (a)(1)]), and grand theft of an automobile (former § 487, subd. 3 [see now § 487h]).

Under the 1978 death penalty law, the jury found as special circumstances of the murder that defendant intentionally committed it while lying in wait (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15)) and while engaged in the commission or attempted commission of a robbery (id., subd. (a)(17)(i)). After a penalty trial, the jury fixed defendant’s punishment at death. His motion for modification of the death verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)) was denied. Defendant’s appeal is automatic. We find no prejudicial error affecting either the guilt or penalty judgments. We will therefore affirm them in full.

Defendant has filed a separate petition for habeas corpus alleging (1) that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in various respects and (2) that newly discovered evidence warrants guilt and penalty retrials. We conclude that the petition fails to state a prima facie case for relief. We will therefore deny the petition. Guilt Trial 1. Prosecution evidence. The principal prosecution witnesses were Bruce Smith and Michelle Cram. As the jury knew, Smith had already pled guilty to second degree murder in connection with the homicide, and Cram had been granted immunity in return for her testimony.

Smith and Cram provided the following account, differing only in minor details: In late August 1981, defendant, Joseph Madrigal, Carl Williams, Robert Coville, Smith, and the 17-year-old Cram were living at a riverbank encampment in Sacramento. Defendant was the group leader. On the night of August 29, Smith, Madrigal, and Coville robbed a nearby convenience store. Quick response by the police forced the trio to hide for several hours before returning to camp. The next day, August 30, defendant and Williams made one of several trips to buy beer, which the camp residents were consuming at a steady pace.

When the men returned in early afternoon, defendant said they had met two “outlaws” (“street persons” or “survivors”) at the Shell station near the convenience store. Defendant reported there was still intense police activity in the area because of the robbery, and he suggested the group needed to leave town. Defendant said he had arranged to use the “outlaws’ ” car for joint drug purchases or robberies that evening. The opportunity arose, he suggested, to lure one of the “outlaws” back to the camp, kill him, and steal the car. Madrigal, Coville, and Williams expressed enthusiasm for the plan.

According to Cram, defendant said he personally would kill and dismember the victim; according to Smith, Coville said he “hadn’t killed somebody in quite a while” and would “take care of it.” When Cram expressed skepticism about defendant’s boasts, he insisted he was serious. Defendant said this would be Cram’s first criminal lesson and would help her become more independent from Williams, with whom she was living. It was decided that because the “outlaws” knew Williams, he would walk back to the Shell station with defendant to meet them. Madrigal would go along.

Once the three returned to camp with the intended victim, either defendant (according to Cram) or Coville (according to Smith) would kill him. Defendant showed Smith where to dig a grave and told Cram to clean up the campsite and pack in preparation for the group’s departure. Defendant, Williams, and Madrigal then left for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the “outlaws.” Defendant had drunk beer all day and may have taken amphetamines. As usual, defendant was wearing glasses; Williams wore a cowboy hat. While the three men were gone, Smith and Cram worked at their assignments; Coville sat and drank beer.

After half an hour’s absence, defendant called out from the top of a levde that his group had returned. Four men walked single file down the trail to the camp. Williams was in the lead, followed in order by Madrigal, victim Burke, and defendant. When the four were about halfway down the trail, defendant suddenly grabbed Burke and pulled a knife. According to Smith, defendant moved around to the front of Burke and stabbed him; Cram saw defendant reach from behind to stab Burke in the chest. Burke protested, and a struggle ensued. Madrigal turned back to assist defendant. Burke began to make gurgling sounds.

Cram became hysterical, so defendant and Williams told Smith to take her to “Fag Beach” and wait. Ten minutes later, defendant, Madrigal, Williams, and Coville arrived at the “Fag Beach” parking lot with the group’s belongings. Defendant gave Coville a car key, which Coville used to unlock the trunk of a car parked in the lot. The group loaded their possessions in the car, proceeded to Interstate 5, and drove all night toward Southern California. Defendant indicated that they should eventually turn east, toward Missouri.

As they rode, Madrigal explained to Smith that “the man had died hard.” Madrigal said Burke had managed to grab defendant’s knife and inflict a thigh wound on defendant before Madrigal joined in to help defendant “finish the job and get his knife back.” Madrigal indicated that he himself had been slashed across the stomach by Burke during the struggle. Smith said that, at one point, he saw defendant’s and Madrigal’s knives in the car. About 3:30 p.m. the next day, as defendant was driving, an officer of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) stopped the group’s car for speeding on Interstate 15 near Bar stow.

Investigation stemming from the traffic stop eventually led to the arrest of all six passengers, and to statements by Smith and Cram concerning the Burke homicide. (See discussion, post.) On September 8, Detective Burchett of the Sacramento Police Department took an in-custody statement from Cram which essentially conformed to her trial testimony. Guided by Smith’s directions, the police found Burke’s body in its shallow riverbank grave on the morning of September 3. Burke’s throat had been cut, and there were 24 other stab wounds, 8 in the rear of the body.

The wounds could have been inflicted by more than one knife and more than one person. Burke’s pants pocket was turned out, but his wallet had not been taken. The car in which the group was arrested was registered to Ronnie Glover. Glover testified that on the evening of August 30, he loaned the car to his cousin Burke, with whom he was travelling. Burke then left the Shell station in the company of three men meeting the descriptions of defendant (glasses), Madrigal, and Williams (cowboy hat). Glover never saw Burke or the car again.

When examined at the time of booking, Madrigal and defendant both had fresh injuries. Defendant’s wound was on the knee. A bloodstained knife was found in the car taken from Glover and Burke. 2. Defense evidence. Defendant testified in his own behalf. He denied any plan to kill the victim and steal his car. The camp residents had engaged in a drunken discussion about killing people, but defendant insisted he merely taunted the others to show they were not as “tough” as they maintained.

Defendant did tell the “sniveling” Cram that “[t]his will be your first day of school,” but the remark was intended only to “shut her up.” He did not order anyone to dig a grave or break camp before he went to meet Glover and Burke. Later, according to defendant, Burke handed him the car keys when they arrived at the “Fag Beach” parking lot. Defendant was “fairly loaded” but not staggering drunk. As the four men walked from the car toward the camp, he and Burke were arguing over how to split the proceeds of drug sales and robberies planned for later in the evening.

Burke wanted a larger share because he had furnished the car. Burke suddenly pulled a knife and slashed defendant on the leg. Defendant managed to get control of Burke’s weapon and defended himself. Burke kept “charging” at defendant and Madrigal, forcing them to continue stabbing him. Burke could have left had he wished to do so. Only after Burke’s death, defendant said, did the group decide to take the car and flee. Attempts to dig a makeshift grave were unsuccessful, so they dragged Burke’s body under a bush. They also threw knives belonging to defendant, Madrigal, Burke, and Smith into the river.

Defendant denied going through Burke’s pockets. He could not name the owner of the knife found in the car but said it was not Madrigal’s. William Gaida, a Sacramento detective, testified about a statement taken from Cram on September 2, which differed in minor respects from Cram’s trial testimony. Larry Moser testified that several years earlier, he was seriously injured in a barroom fight initiated by Burke. Coville testified in his own defense. He denied participating in or overhearing a plan to kill Burke. Coville said he was drunk when defendant, Madrigal, and Williams returned to camp with Burke.

Coville insisted he did not see the killing of Burke, but defendant later told him “this guy [had] jumped on [defendant] and stuck him with a knife” and defendant thought the “guy” was dead after a struggle. Coville recited in some detail how the group reached Burke’s car and left town. A psychiatrist, Dr. Globus, testified that Coville was an alcoholic with brain damage and a history of “amnestic episodes.” Coville told Dr. Globus he remembered little of the incident besides drinking and “partying.” Dr.

Globus believed Coville and concluded he could not have formed the mental states necessary for malice, premeditation, lying in wait, or intent to kill. Neither Williams nor Madrigal testified. Madrigal’s long history of behavioral and psychiatric problems and drug and alcohol abuse was detailed. Dr. Mungas, a psychologist, testified that Madrigal had hazy memories of a fight but remembered no details. Dr.

Mertz, a psychiatrist, testified that Williams told her he had been consuming beer and amphetamines continuously by the evening of August 30; he remembered going to the Shell station and returning with Burke; he heard a scuffle behind him and took Cram away. Dr. Mertz concluded that because of drug and alcohol intoxication, Williams had diminished capacity to conspire, harbor malice, premeditate, or intend to kill. Penalty Trial 1. Prosecution evidence.

The People presented evidence that in the early morning of August 31, 1981, the day after the Burke homicide, defendant, Madrigal, Smith, and Williams robbed a convenience store in Pacoima. The prosecution presented a videotape of the robbery, along with the testimony of Smith and the store clerk, Eli Yitshaky. The evidence indicated that defendant was the ringleader, that he and Madrigal brandished knives, and that Yitshaky was knocked unconscious after complying with the robbers’ order to lie down on the floor. The robbers took food, money from the cash register, and Yitshaky’s personal property.

Defendant, who followed Smith from the store, told Smith he had “punched [Yitshaky] out” and had taken his wallet and watch. The prosecution introduced evidence that on October 31, 1981, defendant and Madrigal were convicted of armed robbery in the Pacoima case. Two Washington State felony convictions against defendant were also presented: a 1977 conviction for second degree assault, and a 1974 conviction for second degree burglary. 2. Defense evidence. Several members of defendant’s family testified in his behalf. According to his two sisters, the family was poor.

Their father was unemployed and a cruel alcoholic who often beat the children and their mother. Still, defendant was cooperative and hardworking until he returned from his two combat tours in Vietnam. Thereafter, his personality was completely changed; he was remote and bitter. He complained that television news about the war was inaccurate. While drinking in a bar with his sister Linda Moss, defendant cried and said he had run over a Vietnamese child while driving his Army supply truck during maneuvers. Defendant’s mother confirmed her son’s personality change after Vietnam and pleaded for his life.

Defendant produced documentary evidence that he had received the Bronze Star for combat bravery in Vietnam. The citation for this medal indicated that defendant, disregarding his own safety, had leveled “devastating” machine-gun fire on an advancing enemy force to protect tanks that were taking on ammunition from his supply truck. Finally, defendant presented evidence about his efforts to learn a trade in the Washington State Penitentiary. A prison vocational counselor said defendant approached him for assistance in entering auto-body and welding courses.

According to his instructors, defendant’s performance in the auto-body class was average; his performance in a welding class was excellent. Madrigal, who was jointly tried on the issue of penalty, also presented character and background evidence from relatives. Dr. Mertz expanded upon the guilt phase evidence of Madrigal’s mental state. Dr. Mertz said Madrigal still had little recall of the Burke homicide and had expressed remorse. She reiterated that Madrigal was a chronic alcoholic and amphetamine abuser and diagnosed an “atypical pervasive developmental disorder” with antisocial features.

These conditions, said Dr. Mertz, impaired Madrigal’s capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and to conform his behavior to law. The jury sentenced Madrigal to life imprisonment without parole. Guilt Issues 1. Search and seizure issues. Defendant claims his convictions must be reversed because the evidence linking him to Burke’s death stems from illegal searches and seizures. (U.S. Const., Amends. IV, XIV; Cal. Const., art. I, § 13.) We disagree. The pertinent facts are gleaned from both the preliminary hearing and the superior court suppression hearing.

On the afternoon of August 31, 1981, CHP Officer Abbott stopped a Chrysler automobile for speeding on Interstate 15 near Barstow. Abbott asked defendant, the driver, for his license; defendant produced only a birth certificate. While writing the speeding ticket, Abbott asked defendant who owned the car. Defendant said “it belonged to a guy in the back seat” but also indicated that the passengers were hitchhikers. Abbott then received a radio message that defendant was wanted on an outstanding warrant. Abbott arrested defendant, placed him in the patrol car, and radioed for assistance.

Backup units arrived within two or three minutes. Abbott then approached the Chrysler and asked the five passengers who owned it. All shrugged or shook their heads. Abbott ordered them out of the vehicle. Coville appeared intoxicated, so Abbott arrested him for public drunkenness and placed him in another patrol unit. Abbott asked again who owned the Chrysler and again received negative responses. Several of the occupants said they were hitchhikers. Abbott then searched the Chrysler’s glove compartment and visor for registration papers. None were found.

Abbott also radioed for a registration check on the vehicle, but he received no immediate reply. While Abbott was looking inside the Chrysler for registration, he saw a wallet lying in the middle of the front seat, the position previously occupied by Coville. Abbott retrieved the wallet and asked each of the vehicle’s occupants who owned it. Defendant explicitly denied ownership, as did all the others with the possible exception of the intoxicated Coville. Abbott then opened the wallet for the purpose of determining its owner.

He found identification for Eli Yitshaky, the clerk of the Pacoima convenience store robbed by defendant and three of his companions early that morning. Abbott eventually learned by radio that the Chrysler was registered to a Mr. Glover of Oroville, but the car had not been reported stolen. The passengers were asked if they knew Glover; all responded negatively. Smith, Cram, Madrigal, and Williams were released by the roadside with their belongings, and the car was impounded. Shortly thereafter, Abbott’s investigation linked the wallet to the Pacoima robbery.

Abbott learned that defendant and his five passengers fit the four robbers’ general descriptions. The four released passengers were located and arrested. Smith and Cram made in-custody statements about the Burke homicide. Detectives went to the impound lot on September 2. They had no search warrant. In plain sight, they saw beer cans, beer and cigarette cartons, meat packages, and the like strewn about the interior of the Chrysler. These items matched articles taken in the Pacoima robbery. The detectives also saw a knife and letter opener on the rear shelf, and registration papers were observed on the sun visor.

Defendant claims Abbott’s “search” of the Chrysler, leading to discovery of the wallet, was invalid because Abbott had neither a warrant, nor probable cause, nor justification based on exigent circumstances. Even if the wallet was properly discovered, he urges, Abbott had no right to open it and discover the incriminating information inside without first obtaining a warrant. Finally, defendant contends, the police lacked cause to impound the vehicle, thus providing detectives the opportunity to scrutinize it for evidence on September 2.

At the outset, we conclude Abbott acted properly when he removed the occupants of the Chrysler and entered the car for the limited purpose of finding the registration. Then, as now, the Vehicle Code allowed a CHP officer, among others, to inspect a registrable vehicle and its title in order to determine ownership. (Veh.

Code, § 2805, subd. (a).) The law also required the driver of a motor vehicle to produce his or her license and registration for examination upon a peace officer’s demand. (Id.., §§ 4462, subd. (a), 12951, subd. (b).) Within constitutional limits, such statutes authorize an officer to enter a stopped vehicle and conduct an immediate warrantless search for the required documents. (E.g., People v. Faddler (1982) 132 Cal.App.3d 607, 610-611 [183 Cal.Rptr. 328]; People v. Burnett (1980) 107 Cal.App.3d 795, 799-800 [165 Cal.Rptr. 781]; Jackson v.

Superior Court (1977) 74 Cal.App.3d 361, 367 [142 Cal.Rptr. 299]; People v. Martin (1972) 23 Cal.App.3d 444, 447 [100 Cal.Rptr. 272]; cf. Carroll v. United States (1925) 267 U.S. 132 [69 L.Ed. 543, 45 S.Ct. 280, 39 A.L.R. 790]; Wimberly v. Superior Court (1976) 16 Cal.3d 557 [128 Cal.Rptr. 641, 547 P.2d 417].) The Chrysler was validly detained on the highway for a moving traffic violation. (Compare Delaware v. Prouse (1979) 440 U.S. 648, 663 [59 L.Ed.2d 660, 673-674, 99 S.Ct. 1391].) While that detention continued, Abbott learned that defendant was subject to arrest on an outstanding warrant.

Defendant had disclaimed ownership of the car, stating that it belonged to a passenger, but also said the passengers were hitchhikers. The passengers confirmed they were hitchhikers, and all denied ownership. In this uncertain situation, Abbott was amply entitled to inspect the Chrysler’s registration to ascertain its owner before deciding whether to release or impound the vehicle. Moreover, it was reasonable for Abbott to remove the passengers and find the documentation himself.

Abbott had every reason to believe that the occupants, who disclaimed ownership, would not be able to find or produce the registration on their own. (See People v. Martin, supra, 23 Cal.App.3d 444, 447; compare Jackson v. Superior Court, supra, 74 Cal.App.3d 361, 368.) For his own safety, Abbott was entitled to search for the papers personally and to remove the five passengers from the car before doing so. (See People v.

Faddler, supra, 132 Cal.App.3d 607, 610; Jackson, supra, 74 Cal.App.3d at p. 369; Martin, supra, 23 Cal.App.3d at p. 447.) At the time he saw the wallet, Abbott was confining his search to the visor and glove compartment, traditional repositories of auto registrations. (See, e.g., People v. Chavers (1983) 33 Cal.3d 462, 470 [189 Cal.Rptr. 169, 658 P.2d 96].) While engaged in these appropriate activities, Abbott saw the wallet lying in plain view in the now-empty interior.

The observation and seizure of evidence in plain view from a position where the officer has a right to be is not constitutionally prohibited. (People v. Rios (1976) 16 Cal.3d 351, 357 [128 Cal.Rptr. 5, 546 P.2d 293]; Lorenzana v. Superior Court (1973) 9 Cal.3d 626, 634 [108 Cal.Rptr. 585, 511 P.2d 33].) Abbott also acted constitutionally by opening the wallet to find out who owned it. Nobody at the scene claimed ownership or knowledge of the owner’s identity. One passenger suggested the wallet might have been left behind by another person to whom the group had given a ride.

Abbott had a duty of reasonable diligence to ascertain and notify the owner of apparently lost property he had found or received. (§ 485; see also Civ. Code, § 2080.1, subd. (b).) Abbott acted as a “caretaker” only; there is no indication his conduct was a pretext for seeking criminal evidence. The minimal scope of the intrusion conformed to his limited purpose. Under these circumstances, Abbott’s action, assuming it amounted to a “search,” was constitutionally reasonable even absent a warrant or probable cause. (See United States v. O’Bryant (11th Cir. 1985) 775 F.2d 1528, 1534; State v.

Pidcock (1988) 306 Ore. 335 [759 P.2d 1092,1095], cert. den. (1989) 489 U.S. 1011 [103 L.Ed.2d 183, 109 S.Ct. 1120]; cf. South Dakota v. Opperman (1976) 428 U.S. 364 [49 L.Ed.2d 1000, 96 S.Ct. 3092] [inventory search].) For similar reasons, once Abbott determined that the identification in the wallet did not match any person on the scene, he was justified in seizing and retaining it for further investigation. Nor can defendant seriously argue that it was unreasonable to impound the Chrysler.

The car had been stopped on a desolate stretch of rural freeway, and a registration check disclosed it belonged to someone not on the scene. The driver and one of the passengers were under arrest. The remaining occupants disclaimed any link to the vehicle that would allow its release to them. Defendant’s initial suggestion that he was driving with the permission of an owner-passenger had proven false. Thus, Abbott could not reasonably rely on defendant for instructions about securing the car.

In any event, probable cause had by then arisen to believe the Chrysler was stolen, and Abbott testified to such a suspicion. The impound was thus entirely proper. Evidence thereafter retrieved from the car without a warrant was observed in plain sight by officers at the impound lot. No illegal search and seizure occurred. 2. Motion to “fire” counsel.

On Friday, October 15, 1982, one day after the already-postponed guilt trial had been scheduled to begin in Judge Grossfeld’s court, defendant moved before Judge Boskovich to “fire” his appointed trial attorney, Vincent O’Brien, for failure to “appeal [certain pretrial] motions.” After inquiry, Judge Boskovich denied the motion. Defendant makes a number of arguments in connection with this incident. None has merit.

The context of defendant’s contentions is as follows: The People proceeded by information, and search-and-seizure issues were litigated at the preliminary hearing. (§ 1538.5, subd. (f).) On March 2, 1982, defendant was arraigned in superior court. On April 30, 59 days later, defendant joined Madrigal’s and Williams’ motion to set aside the information under

section 995. The

section 995 motion urged (1) that the prosecution’s evidence stemmed from an allegedly illegal search and seizure during the Barstow traffic stop, and (2) that there was insufficient evidence of lying in wait. After postponements, the

section 995 motion was heard and denied on June 22. On July 7, Madrigal and Williams sought a writ of prohibition to overturn the June 22 order. The petition, which defendant did not join, raised both the search and seizure and lying-in-wait issues. It was summarily denied on August 26. Meanwhile, on July 14, defendant joined Madrigal’s July 2 superior court motion to suppress evidence under

section 1538.5, subdivision (i). The motion made search-and-seizure claims similar to those already rejected by the trial court under

section 995. On September 28, after an evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted in part and denied in part the

section 1538.5 motion. Defendant was precluded by statute from seeking pretrial review of this denial because the

section 1538.5 motion had been filed more than 60 days after his arraignment. (§ 1510.) Trial was originally set for September 28, but the date had been continued to Thursday, October 14. The matter trailed thereafter pending completion of final pretrial motions. Judge Grossfeld, to whom the matter was assigned for trial, had constantly reminded the parties that trial should begin no later than Monday, October 18. Judge Boskovich was also involved in the completion of pretrial motions.

On Friday morning, October 15, with all defendants present, Madrigal moved before Judge Boskovich to relieve his appointed counsel, Robert Peters, and represent himself pursuant to Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [45 L.Ed.2d 562, 95 S.Ct. 2525]. Madrigal said he was dissatisfied because counsel had failed to “appeal” the denial of pretrial motions. Peters responded that writ relief had been sought from denial of the

section 995 motion, and that counsel were “trying to prepare one on the denial of the 1538.5.” The court declared that counsel’s representation had been excellent, that the motion for self-representation was untimely, and that if it were granted, the ensuing trial delay would not be in the interest of justice. The court denied the Faretta motion and proceeded to other matters. Later the same day, defendant interrupted the proceedings, stating that he wanted to “fire” O’Brien, his appointed counsel.

Like Madrigal, defendant declared that his dissatisfaction stemmed from counsel’s failure to “appeal” pretrial motions. The court asked O’Brien for a response. O’Brien explained that a writ petition challenging the

section 1538.5 denial “is to be filed on Monday” and that “the one for the [section] 995 [denial] has already been filed.” Judge Boskovich indicated he would take the word of an officer of the court. A writ petition, said the judge, had “obviously” been filed “on these particular motions” and “I don’t know what else [defendant] could ask for.” Accordingly, “[t]he Marsden motion” to discharge counsel (see People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 [84 Cal.Rptr. 156, 465 P.2d 44]) was denied.

Coville immediately stated that he also wished to “fire” his appointed counsel for “conflict of interest” because pretrial motions had not been “appealed].” Defendant interjected that “[w]e feel they’re trying to get us into trial before we can get these motions into Appellate Court and get a ruling on them.” Once again the court sought counsel’s response. Coville’s attorney, Lloyd Riley, explained that he intended to seek

section 1538.5 review on behalf of Coville as soon as a transcript of the trial court proceedings became available. Riley “expected” the writ petition would be filed in the Court of Appeal by Wednesday, October 20, the day jury selection was scheduled to begin. The court declared that all counsel had obviously done everything possible to present pretrial motions and writs, and that it appeared “we have reached the stage where ... the defendants ... are just trying to delay progress . . . .” Coville’s motion was denied. On Monday, October 18, all defendants jointly filed in the Court of Appeal a petition for writ of mandate challenging the trial court’s partial denial of relief under

section 1538.5. Citing

section 1510, the Court of Appeal summarily denied the petition as untimely. Defendant first argues that his counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to join the only timely writ proceeding, that arising from denial of the

section 995 motion, and for failing to file a

section 1538.5 motion within 60 days after arraignment. Counsel’s omission, he urges, effectively denied him pretrial appellate review of his lying-in-wait and search-and-seizure claims. The appellate record fails to disclose the reasons for counsel’s conduct. Even if we assume that counsel could have had no sound tactical purpose (see People v. Pope (1979) 23 Cal.3d 412, 425-426 [152 Cal.Rptr. 732, 590 P.2d 859, 2 A.L.R.4th 1]), defendant fails to show prejudice warranting reversal. Madrigal and Williams did seek writ review of the

section 995 denial; their petition properly raised the lying-in-wait and search-and-seizure issues common to all the defendants. The Court of Appeal summarily denied pretrial relief, and defendant fails to show that the result might have been different had he joined the petition. In any event, by timely pursuing trial court remedies under sections 995 and 1538.5, counsel took all steps necessary to preserve defendant’s claims for appellate review.

The law permits an accused to seek pretrial writ review after motions under sections 995 and 1538.5 have been denied in the superior court (see §§ 999a, 1538.5, subd. (i)), but these procedures are optional. Counsel’s failure to preserve defendant’s pretrial writ rights did not preclude defendant from raising his lying-in-wait and search-and-seizure arguments on appeal from his convictions. Moreover, as we explain elsewhere (see discussions ante and post), those arguments fail on their merits.

Hence, any inadvertent mishandling of pretrial writs by Attorney O’Brien does not undermine confidence in the outcome of defendant’s case. (Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 694 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 697-698, 104 S.Ct. 2052]; see People v. Fosselman (1983) 33 Cal.3d 572, 584 [189 Cal.Rptr. 855, 659 P.2d 1144].) Nor was counsel’s omission so serious as to cast doubt on the overall reliability of the adversarial process. (See United States v.

Cronic (1984) 466 U.S. 648, 659 [80 L.Ed.2d 657, 668, 104 S.Ct. 2039].) Defendant next argues that when he moved to discharge his attorney, counsel “misled” the trial court by implying inaccurately that defendant had joined the

section 995 writ petition, and by failing to disclose that the anticipated

section 1538.5 petition would be untimely. Defendant also suggests the court itself overlooked the statutory time limits applicable to the pretrial writs. As a result, he urges, the court ruled on his motion without realizing the legitimacy of his complaints. When a defendant moves for substitution of appointed counsel, the court must consider any specific examples of counsel’s inadequate representation that the defendant wishes to enumerate. Thereafter, substitution is a matter of judicial discretion.

Denial of the motion is not an abuse of discretion unless the defendant has shown that a failure to replace the appointed attorney would “substantially impair” the defendant’s right to assistance of counsel. (People v. Douglas (1990) 50 Cal.3d 468, 520 [268 Cal.Rptr. 126, 788 P.2d 640]; People v. Moore (1988) 47 Cal.3d 63, 76 [252 Cal.Rptr. 494, 762 P.2d 1218]; People v. Marsden, supra, 2 Cal.3d 118, 123-124.) Here the court satisfied its duty to consider defendant’s complaints. It allowed defendant to explain his single ground of dissatisfaction— counsel’s handling of pretrial writs.

The court sought a response from counsel and considered the information provided in reaching a decision. There is no evidence that counsel intended to mislead the court. The court was entitled to accept counsel’s explanation and was not obliged to inquire, sua sponte, into the actual efficacy of counsel’s efforts. Nor did the court err in denying the motion for substitution. Even if evidence of counsel’s inadvertence had been before the court, defendant’s showing indicates neither constitutionally inadequate assistance nor a fundamental breakdown of attorney-client relations. (See People v.

Hamilton (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1142, 1163-1164 [259 Cal.Rptr. 701, 774 P.2d 730].) Absent more convincing indicia that retention of Attorney O’Brien might “substantially impair” defendant’s right to counsel, there was no obligation to appoint new counsel. Defendant suggests the court might nonetheless have exercised its broad Marsden discretion differently had counsel’s oversights been revealed. We are not persuaded. Even under defendant’s assumptions, counsel had committed no serious transgression.

Having observed counsel’s pretrial performance at some length, the court maintained that all defendants were receiving excellent representation. Three of the defendants suddenly presented similar motions to discharge their lawyers on the eve of an already-postponed trial. The court expressed its paramount concern, supported by the evidence, that these developments were an orchestrated last-minute attempt to delay trial. It does not appear reasonably probable that any gaps in the Marsden evidence affected the result of the motion. No basis for reversal appears.

Defendant claims he was also making a constitutional Faretta motion to represent himself. If his purpose was not immediately clear, he urges, the court had a sua sponte duty to inquire about his intent. However, there is no such duty. A defendant seeking to proceed in propria persona must make an unequivocal assertion of that right within a reasonable time before trial. (People v. Wright (1990) 52 Cal.3d 367, 409 [276 Cal.Rptr. 731, 802 P.2d 221]; People v. Bloom (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1194, 1219-1220 [259 Cal.Rptr. 669, 774 P.2d 698]; People v.

Windham (1977) 19 Cal.3d 121, 127-128 [137 Cal.Rptr. 8, 560 P.2d 1187].) Defendant never hinted he wished to proceed without any lawyer, even though he was present when Madrigal earlier made just such a request. No Faretta error occurred. 3. Absence of mental defenses. Defendant makes an appellate claim that O’Brien rendered ineffective assistance at the guilt phase by failing to investigate and present possible mental defenses, such as combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the record on appeal fails to disclose that counsel could or should have found and presented such evidence.

As is appropriate in such circumstances (see People v. Pope, supra, 23 Cal.3d 412,426), defendant has developed the claim more fully in his petition for habeas corpus. We therefore discuss it below in connection with the petition. 4. Failure to request Keenan counsel. Defendant also asserts that O’Brien acted incompetently by failing to invoke the trial court’s discretion to appoint a second attorney to assist him in the guilt phase of this capital case. (Keenan v.

Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal.3d 424, 430 [180 Cal.Rptr. 489, 640 P.2d 108]; see now § 987, subd. (d).) Defendant cites the pretrial writ omissions, O’Brien’s withdrawal for health reasons after the guilt phase, and the record statements of substitute penalty counsel William Owen that O’Brien had not properly prepared a penalty defense. These incidents, defendant urges, show that O’Brien failed to recognize he was inadequate to handle defendant’s case on his own. The record on appeal falls far short of a showing that counsel was constitutionally inadequate for failing to request cocounsel.

As defendant concedes, O’Brien frequently consulted with Owen on an informal basis throughout the proceedings on guilt. Moreover, despite possible conflicts of interest among the codefendants, O’Brien had the support of codefendants’ counsel on important common issues, such as search and seizure and the credibility of prosecution witnesses. The record discloses no evidence that O’Brien was overwhelmed in conducting the defense.

In any event, because the claim is presented as one of ineffective assistance of counsel, relief depends solely on whether counsel’s error, if any, may have affected the outcome. (Strickland v. Washington, supra, 466 U.S. 668, 692-693 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 696-697]; People v. Fosselman, supra, 33 Cal.3d 572, 584.) Defendant identifies no evidence in the record that such actual prejudice occurred, and we discern none. Hence, the claim must be rejected. 5. Number of peremptory challenges.

The trial court allowed 26 peremptory challenges to be exercised jointly by the 4 codefendants, and granted each codefendant 5 extra challenges to be exercised individually, for a total of 46 peremptory challenges. The prosecution was also granted a total of 46 peremptory challenges. The court allocated the challenges pursuant to former sections 1070 and 1070.5 (see now Code Civ. Proc., § 231, subd. (a)).

Section 1070, subdivision (a), provided that defendant and the state were entitled to 26 peremptory challenges each in a case involving the death penalty or life imprisonment, and to 10 challenges each for all other but minor offenses.

Section 1070.5, subdivision (a), provided that when two or more persons were jointly tried for any but a minor offense, the number of challenges provided by

section 1070 must be allocated and exercised jointly, with five additional challenges for each individual codefendant. In such cases, the People received challenges equal to the total number allowed the defense. Defendant now claims the statutes did not require joint exercise of the 26 defense challenges in a capital case, but rather granted each jointly tried capital defendant 26 separate challenges. He concedes his counsel expressly approved the trial court’s allocation of challenges.

However, he claims that once peremptories are granted by the state, the statutory allocation becomes a “fundamental” jury trial right that can only be waived by the accused personally. (See People v. Holmes (1960) 54 Cal.2d 442 [5 Cal.Rptr. 871, 353 P.2d 583].) We reject at the outset a right of personal waiver. Peremptory challenges are intended to promote a fair and impartial jury, but they are not a right of direct constitutional magnitude. (Ross v. Oklahoma (1988) 487 U.S. 81, 88-89 [101 L.Ed.2d 80, 90, 108 S.Ct. 2273]; People v.

Ainsworth (1988) 45 Cal.3d 984, 1005 [248 Cal.Rptr. 568, 755 P.2d 1017]; People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258, 281, fn. 28 [148 Cal.Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748].) In other contexts, we have assumed that the right to a full complement of peremptory challenges is less fundamental than the right to jury trial itself. For example, while improper denial of any jury is automatically reversible, improper denial of peremptory challenges warrants reversal only if the accused can show the error affected his right to a fair and impartial jury. (People v.

Bittaker (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1046, 1087-1088 [259 Cal.Rptr. 630, 774 P.2d 659]; People v. Coleman (1988) 46 Cal.3d 749, 771 [251 Cal.Rptr. 83, 759 P.2d 1260].) We see no reason to deem the statutory privilege so “fundamental” or “critical” as to require personal waiver. (Cf. People v. Guzman (1988) 45 Cal.3d 915, 935-936 [248 Cal.Rptr. 467, 755 P.2d 917].) We recognize that due process concerns may arise when the state arbitrarily withholds a nonconstitutional right provided by its laws. (Ross v. Oklahoma, supra, 487 U.S. at p. 89 [101 L.Ed.2d at pp. 90-91]; see Hicks v.

Oklahoma (1980) 447 U.S. 343 [65 L.Ed.2d 175, 100 S.Ct. 2227].) However, California has never made personal waiver a part of the state-created right to peremptory challenges. Hence, defendant cannot claim his counsel’s waiver violated his state-created due process rights. Because counsel agreed to the trial court’s allocation of peremptory challenges, defendant’s claim of improper allocation is barred on direct appeal. We dismiss it on that ground alone. In addition, the claim fails on the merits.

The allocation of challenges at defendant’s trial was “supported by the plain language of the statute[s] and all relevant authority. [Citations.]” (People v. Ainsworth, supra, 45 Cal.3d 984, 1004.) Nor are a capital accused’s constitutional rights offended by forcing him to share peremptory challenges with other capital and noncapital codefendants. (Id., at pp. 1005-1007.) 6. Sufficiency of robbery evidence.

Defendant claims the robbery evidence is insufficient, because there was no proof that property was taken from Burke’s “person or immediate presence” against Ids will, and by means of force or fear. (§ 211.) If the robbery conviction is based on theft of the car key, defendant suggests, there is no evidence the key left Burke’s “person or immediate presence” without his consent or by force.

If Glover’s auto was the property taken, defendant asserts, it also was not obtained from Burke’s “immediate presence” by force; the vehicle was a significant distance from where Burke was assaulted, and it was appropriated only after his death. Courts of Appeal have held that the “immediate presence” element is satisfied, even when the actual taking of property is far from the scene of the assault, “so long as [the victim] perceives any overt act in the commission of the robbery and is subjected to the requisite force or fear. . . .” (People v.

Martinez (1984) 150 Cal.App.3d 579, 604 [198 Cal.Rptr. 565]; see also, e.g., People v. Miramon (1983) 140 Cal.App.3d 118, 124 [189 Cal.Rptr. 432]; People v. Wiley (1976) 57 Cal.App.3d 149, 160-161 [129 Cal.Rptr. 13]; People v. Lavender (1934) 137 Cal.App. 582, 589-590 [31 P.2d 439].) Under these cases, it would be enough that defendant and his companions killed Burke for the purpose of taking or retaining property entrusted to Burke’s possession and control. However, in People v. Hayes (1990) 52 Cal.3d 577 [276 Cal.Rptr. 874, 802 P.2d 376], we disapproved such an expansive

interpretation of “immediate presence” for purposes of robbery.

As we explained, to ignore the distance between the act of taking and the application of “force or fear” would deny meaning to the separate requirement of robbery that the property be “tak[en]” from the victim’s person or “immediate presence.” (Id., at p. 628.) Adopting the prevailing American rule, we held that “ ‘ “[a] thing is in the [immediate] presence of a person, in respect to robbery, which is so within his reach, inspection, observation, or control, that he could, if not overcome by violence or prevented by fear, retain his possession of it. [Citations.]” ’ ” (Hayes, supra, 52 Cal.3d at pp. 626-627, quoting Commonwealth v.

Homer (1920) 235 Mass. 526 [127 N.E. 517, 520].) The zone of immediate presence includes the area “within which the victim could reasonably be expected to exercise some physical control over his property.” (Hayes, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 627, quoting People v. Bauer (1966) 241 Cal.App.2d 632, 642 [50 Cal.Rptr. 687].) The distance between Burke’s auto and the murder scene was not so great as to violate these standards as a matter of law.

Defendant, Madrigal, Williams, and Burke had brought the car from a remote location to the “Fag Beach” lot, which apparently was a common and convenient public parking spot for persons using the nearby riverbank. Burke and the three other men then walked the relatively short distance to the riverbank campsite—a mere quarter of a mile by defendant’s own calculation. Like Burke, the robbers were on foot, and they were no closer to the car at the moment they assaulted Burke than was Burke himself. There was no evidence that Burke was too far away to perceive and resist an attempt to seize the vehicle.

The jury could thus reasonably infer that but for defendant’s attack, Burke’s relative proximity to the car would have allowed him to take effective physical steps to retain control of the vehicle, and to prevent defendant and his companions from stealing it. The jury could also conclude that the theft was “by means of” force, in that defendant attacked Burke to eliminate his resistance to the taking.

Moreover, nothing in Hayes suggests that criminals may escape robbery convictions simply by luring their victim far enough away from the property to make his control more difficult or the application of force or fear more convenient. Hayes disapproved several decisions holding that “immediate presence” is satisfied by the victim’s perception of any overt act committed in aid of the taking, but our opinion expressly excepted a long-standing decision, People v.

Lavender, supra, 137 Cal.App. 582. (Hayes, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 628, fn. 10.) In Lavender, supra, 137 Cal.App. 582, robbers induced a hotel clerk to show them a room; once there, they tied up the clerk, extorted the combination to the office cash register, returned to the adjacent office, and rifled the register.

The Court of Appeal reviewed decisions suggesting that “immediate presence” is satisfied if the victim is close enough to perceive the taking, but the court also observed that “[a]t least as early as the time when the clerk was induced to leave the hotel office . . .the crime of robbery was commenced; . . .

The trick or device by which the physical presence of the clerk was detached from the property under his protection and control should not avail defendant in his claim that the property was not taken from the ‘immediate presence’ of the victim.” (137 Cal.App. at p. 591, italics added.) Similar principles have traditionally applied to the requirement that the taking be both from the victim’s person or immediate presence and by force or fear.

Cases untouched by Hayes, supra, 52 Cal.3d 577, hold that even if the perpetrator used peaceful means, such as a pretext, to separate the property from the victim, “what would have been a mere theft is transformed into robbery if the perpetrator . . . [later] uses force to retain or escape with [the property].” (People v. Winkler (1986) 178 Cal.App.3d 750, 756 [224 Cal.Rptr. 28]; see People v. Anderson (1966) 64 Cal.2d 633, 638 [51 Cal.Rptr. 238, 414 P.2d 366].) We affirm these principles.

One commits robbery when, with intent to rob, he uses peaceful means to move the victim away from a place where the victim could physically protect the property, then employs force or fear upon the victim in order to make good the theft or escape. The act of “taking” begins when the separation of the Victim from his or her property occurs, and it continues through the forcible consummation. Hence, the defendant may be found guilty of a “taking” which is both from the victim’s “person or immediate presence” and “by means of force or fear.” (§ 211.) At oral argument, defendant’s counsel conceded as much.

Here, the prosecution evidence indicated that defendant and his companions, acting by prearrangement, induced victim Burke to leave his car in the “Fag Beach” parking lot, then to walk with them to a more secluded place where their attack would be safer and his ability to protect the vehicle from seizure would be reduced. The jury could therefore conclude they robbed Burke of the car. Furthermore, the evidence supports a conclusion that the key to the car was taken from Burke’s “person or immediate presence” by force or fear.

Even under defendant’s version of events, he obtained the key from Burke’s “person”; defendant said Burke handed him the key at the “Fag Beach” parking lot. If the jury believed this, it could still conclude that defendant later used force to prevent Burke from retrieving the key. (See authorities cited ante.) Finally, the jury could determine that defendant did use force in the first instance to gain possession of the key from Burke’s “person.” Burke’s body was found with his pants pocket turned out, but his wallet was not missing.

A reasonable inference arises that the key was obtained by killing Burke, then rifling his body. The evidence of robbery was sufficient. 7. Theft as lesser included offense. Defendant claims all convictions and findings based on robbery must be reversed because the court failed to instruct sua sponte that if he formed the intent to steal only after Burke was killed, defendant was guilty at most of the lesser included offense of theft. The contention lacks merit. Theft is a lesser included offense of robbery, which includes the additional element of force or fear. (People v.

Melton (1988) 44 Cal.3d 713, 746 [244 Cal.Rptr. 867, 750 P.2d 741].) If intent to steal arose after the victim was assaulted, the robbery element of stealing by force or fear is absent. (People v. Ramkeesoon (1985) 39 Cal.3d 346, 351 [216 Cal.Rptr. 455, 702 P.2d 613]; People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d 1, 54.) Defendant’s testimony that he decided to take Glover’s keys and car only after struggling with Burke is substantial evidence that he was guilty of theft, not robbery.

When there is substantial evidence that an element of the charged offense is missing, but that the accused is guilty of a lesser included offense, the court must instruct upon the lesser included offense, and must allow the jury to return the lesser conviction, even if not requested to do so. (People v. Turner (1990) 50 Cal.3d 668, 690 [268 Cal.Rptr. 706, 789 P.2d 887]; Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 746; Ramkeesoon, supra, 39 Cal.3d at p. 351.) Contrary to defendant’s assertion, the court fulfilled its duty here.

The jury received instructions correctly defining robbery and the lesser included offenses of attempted robbery, grand theft from the person, and grand and petty theft. Verdict forms were provided for each lesser offense. No more was required. An accused is entitled on request to nonargumentative instructions that “pinpoint” the theory of the defense. (People v. Daniels (1991) 52 Cal.3d 815, 870 [277 Cal.Rptr. 122, 802 P.2d 906]; People v. Wright (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1126, 1137 [248 Cal.Rptr. 600, 755 P.2d 1049].) However, defendant requested no “pinpoint” instructions on the issue of after-formed intent.

The trial court had no sua sponte duty to provide them. (See generally People v. Bloom, supra, 48 Cal.3d 1194, 1212.) Defendant suggests our Turner and Ramkeesoon decisions established a sua sponte duty to instruct on after-formed intent. Such is not the case.

In Turner and Ramkeesoon, we addressed the presence or absence of after-formed intent instructions only when deciding whether reversible prejudice had arisen from the trial courts’ erroneous failure to furnish any instructions or verdict forms on lesser included offenses supported by the evidence. (Turner, supra, 50 Cal.3d at pp. 690-693; Ramkeesoon, supra, 39 Cal.3d at pp. 351-353.) In contrast to Turner and Ramkeesoon, the instant trial court did provide a full opportunity for conviction on lesser included offenses of robbery. Defendant’s assertion of direct error must therefore be rejected.

Defendant’s argument also fails as a claim that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance by omitting to request “pinpoint” instructions. The standard instructions made clear that robbery required a finding of taking by force or fear, while the lesser included theft offenses did not. The evidentiary dispute was between the prosecution’s theory of a group-planned killing for robbery, on the one hand, and defendant’s claims of theft as an afterthought to self-defense, on the other.

Confronted with these two versions, and no other, the jury convicted defendant of conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to murder, based on instructions specifying overt acts that preceded Burke’s death. It found defendant guilty of first degree murder “under the felony murder rule,” i.e., homicide “as a result” of the actual or attempted commission of robbery with specific intent. It also found that defendant had committed first degree murder “other than under the felony murder rule,” based on instructions defining premeditated murder and murder by lying in wait.

It upheld a robbery-murder special circumstance under instructions that the robbery must not be “incidental” to the murder. (People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d 1, 59-62.) And it further found as a special circumstance that defendant killed intentionally “while” lying in wait. Hence, the jury necessarily and specifically rejected defendant’s claim of after-formed intent. (See Turner, supra, 50 Cal.3d at pp. 691-693; Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d at pp. 746-747; see also People v.

Sedeno (1974) 10 Cal.3d 703, 721 [112 Cal.Rptr. 1, 518 P.2d 913].) Counsel’s failure to request “pinpoint” instructions on the issue thus does not undermine confidence in the outcome. (Strickland v. Washington, supra, 466 U.S. 668, 694 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 698]; see People v. Fosselman, supra, 33 Cal.3d 572, 584.) 8. Impeachment with prior burglary conviction. Defendant moved in limine to exclude three prior felonies for purposes of impeachment. The trial court excluded a 1977 assault and admitted a 1974 burglary.

The court reserved judgment on whether the 1981 Pacoima robbery conviction could be used for impeachment and ordered the prosecution not to mention it until a final ruling was made. Defendant testified, and his own counsel elicited the 1974 burglary for defensive purposes. The prosecutor briefly cross-examined defendant about the burglary but did not refer to the 1981 robbery. Defendant contends the trial court never exercised its discretion to exclude the 1974 burglary under Evidence Code

section 352 because the court erroneously believed that prior felony convictions suggesting dishonesty must be admitted “without limitation” under a then-recent constitutional amendment added by Proposition 8. (Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (f) (hereafter

article I,

section 28(f)), added by initiative, Prop. 8, Primary Elec. (June 8,1982), commonly known as the Victims’ Bill of Rights.) The claim lacks merit. Because defendant’s charged crimes occurred before the effective date of Proposition 8, the court was mistaken in its expressed belief that

article I,

section 28(

f) applied. (See People v. Smith (1983) 34 Cal.3d 251, 257-263 [193 Cal.Rptr. 692, 667 P.2d 149].) However, the court also indicated it would exercise its discretion under pre-Proposition 8 authority to allow impeachment with the 1974 burglary. (E.g., People v. Rist (1976) 16 Cal.3d 211, 218-219 [127 Cal.Rptr. 457, 545 P.2d 833]; People v.

Beagle (1972) 6 Cal.3d 441, 453-454 [99 Cal.Rptr. 313, 492 P.2d 1].) As the court noted, the burglary (which counsel conceded was theft related) bore on honesty, was dissimilar to the charged offenses, and was not unduly remote because defendant had not thereafter led a blameless life. (Rist, supra, 16 Cal.3d at pp. 218-222; People v. Benton (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 92, 97 [161 Cal.Rptr. 12].) No error appears. 9. Form of guilt verdicts.

At the conclusion of the guilt trial, the court read its proposed instructions and verdict forms aloud to counsel, admonishing that “[i]f I don’t hear any objection, the Court will interpret [counsel’s] silence as we go through these” to mean assent. With respect to count two (the murder charge), instructions on three theories of first degree murder were proffered: felony murder in the commission of robbery, deliberate and premeditated murder, and murder by means of lying in wait.

The court proposed that the jury be permitted to return any one or more of three separate verdicts of first degree murder against defendant. One specified that defendant was “guilty of. . . violation of

section 187 . . . (Murder in the First Degree Under the Felony Murder Rule).” A second stated that defendant was “guilty of . . . violation of

section 187 .. . (Murder in the First Degree Other Than Under the Felony Murder Rule.)” A third declared that defendant was “guilty of . . . violation of

section 187 . . . (Murder in the First Degree Under Both of the Aforesaid Theories: to wit, Under the Felony Murder Rule and Other Than Under the Felony Murder Rule.)” Defense counsel voiced no objection, and the verdict forms described above were submitted to the jury as proposed. The court instructed that the jury must agree unanimously on each form. The jury signed all three. A jury poll confirmed the result. Counsel never objected to the murder verdicts in the trial court. Defendant now asserts they were defective.

As he notes, in a criminal case, “[t]he jury must render a general verdict,” and may return a “special verdict” only “when they are in doubt as to the legal effect of the facts proved, . . .” (§ 1150.) “A general verdict upon a plea of not guilty is either ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty,’ . . .” (§ 1151.) “A special verdict is that by which the jury find the facts only, leaving the judgment to the Court.” (§ 1152.) Defendant argues that a general verdict may not specify the theory of conviction, and a special verdict may not decide the ultimate issue of conviction or acquittal.

Hence, he urges, the instant murder verdicts were neither general nor special, and were thus unauthorized. However, the point was waived by defendant’s persistent failure to object or seek corrective measures below. We reject it for that reason alone. Furthermore, defendant cannot claim his counsel’s failure to object constituted ineffective assistance warranting reversal. The forms returned by defendant’s jury were not forbidden “special verdicts,” but “general” verdicts supplemented by special “findings.” (See People v. Morales (1989) 48 Cal.3d 527, 550 [257 Cal.Rptr. 64, 770 P.2d 244]; People v.

Burgener (1986) 41 Cal.3d 505, 537-538 [224 Cal.Rptr. 112, 714 P.2d 1251].) We recently intimated that special “findings” may accompany a general criminal verdict, even if not expressly authorized by statute, so long as they do not interfere with the jury’s deliberative process. (People v. Farmer (1989) 47 Cal.3d 888, 920 [254 Cal.Rptr. 508, 765 P.2d 940]; but see People v. Perry (1972) 7 Cal.3d 756, 783-784 [103 Cal.Rptr. 161, 499 P.2d 129].) Defendant identifies no deliberative harm that might arise from requiring the jury to agree on specific theories of first degree murder.

In any event, technical defects in a verdict may be disregarded if the jury’s intent to convict of a specified offense within the charges is unmistakably clear, and the accused’s substantial rights suffered no prejudice. (§§ 1258, 1404; see, e.g., People v. Radil (1977) 76 Cal.App.3d 702, 710 [142 Cal.Rptr. 233]; People v. Bratis (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 751, 763-764 [141 Cal.Rptr. 45]; People v. McKinney (1945) 71 Cal.App.2d 5, 13-14 [161 P.2d 957].) The instant verdicts conclusively show the jury’s intent to convict defendant of first degree murder as charged in count 2.

Defendant’s claim of prejudice is less clear. He implies that the special findings denied him the benefit of a long-established principle of appellate review. This rule holds that “when the prosecution presents its case to the jury on alternate theories, some of which are legally [and factually supportable] and others legally [or factually defective], and the reviewing court cannot determine from the record on which theory the ensuing general verdict of guilt rested, the conviction cannot stand. . . .” (People v.

Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d 1, 69; see also id., at pp. 70-71.) But there is no “substantial right” to a verdict that is vulnerable in this respect. An accused suffers no cognizable “prejudice” when the trial court protects the record by directing the jury to agree unanimously on each alternate theory supporting the charge, and to disclose the results. Even if defendant’s theory were correct, no prejudice would arise on these facts.

Every first degree murder theory presented and found against defendant was amply supported. (See discussions ante and post.) Hence, an undifferentiated verdict would not have changed the appellate outcome. No basis for reversal appears. 10. Lying in wait. Defendant contends the first degree murder conviction must be reversed insofar as it is based upon a theory of lying in wait, and that the lying-in-wait special-circumstance finding is also invalid, because there is no evidence he struck his victim from a place of hiding.

He further claims the lying-in-wait special-circumstance finding is defective because the jury was not instructed (1) that an intentional killing was necessary and (2) that the killing must have occurred without “cognizable interruption” following the period of concealment and watchful waiting. All these arguments lack merit.

The concealment required for lying in wait “is that which puts the defendant in a position of advantage, from which the factfinder can infer that lying-in-wait was part of the defendant’s plan to take the victim by surprise. [Citation.] It is sufficient that a defendant’s true intent and purpose were concealed by his actions or conduct. It is not required that he be literally concealed from view before he attacks the victim. [Citations.]” (People v. Morales, supra, 48 Cal.3d 527, 555, quoting People v.

Sassounian (1986) 182 Cal.App.3d 361, 406-407 [226 Cal.Rptr. 880].) Here substantial evidence indicated that the codefendants lured Burke to an isolated location on a pretext, and that defendant then watched and waited for an opportunity to ambush Burke from a position of advantage. That Burke was generally aware of defendant’s presence does not negate the element of concealment. (Morales, supra, 48 Cal.3d at pp. 554-555; People v. Ward (1972) 27 Cal.App.3d 218, 230 [103 Cal.Rptr. 671].) Nor was there instructional error on the issue of lying in wait.

The trial court correctly instructed that murder by means of lying in wait requires only a wanton and reckless intent to inflict injury likely to cause death. (People v. Ruiz (1988) 44 Cal.3d 589, 614 [244 Cal.Rptr. 200, 749 P.2d 854]; People v.

Atchley (1959) 53 Cal.2d 160, 175, fn. 4 [346 P.2d 764]; see CALJIC No. 8.25.) On the other hand, the jury was told it could not find the special circumstance of murder while lying in wait unless the defendant “intentionally killed” the victim. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15); CALJIC No. 8.81.15.) The lying-in-wait instructions also expressed the correct temporal relationship between concealment and attack. For purposes of first degree murder, CALJIC No. 8.25, as received by the jury, states that the killing must be “immediately preceded" by the period of lying in wait.

The special circumstance instruction set forth the statutory requirement that the murder was committed “while” the defendant was lying in wait. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15); CALJIC No. 8.81.15.) The evidence indicated that defendant maneuvered himself behind Burke, then attacked without warning from that position of advantage. (See Domino v. Superior Court (1982) 129 Cal.App.3d 1000, 1011 [181 Cal.Rptr. 486].) The jury cannot have been misled. 11. Robbery-murder special circumstance.

Defendant claims there was no substantial evidence, for purposes of the robbery-murder special circumstance, that the robbery was more than “incidental” to the murder. (People v. Green, supra, 27 Cal.3d 1, 59-62.) On the contrary, two prosecution witnesses testified at length to a plan of murder for the purpose of robbery. The record fully supports a robbery-murder special-circumstance finding. 12. Miscellaneous contentions. Defendant makes two additional claims of error with respect to guilt and special circumstances. Both have been rejected in prior decisions.

The contentions, and the dispositive contrary authority, are as follows: “Death qualification” of the unitary guilt/penalty jury denied him a fair and representative guilt jury. (E.g., Lockhart v. McCree (1986) 476 U.S. 162 [90 L.Ed.2d 137, 106 S.Ct. 1758]; People v. Hamilton, supra, 48 Cal.3d 1142, 1165; People v. Fields (1983) 35 Cal.3d 329, 353 [197 Cal.Rptr. 803, 673 P.2d 680]; Hovey v. Superior Court (1980) 28 Cal.3d 1 [168 Cal.Rptr. 128, 616 P.2d 1301].) The jury should have been instructed that intent to kill is necessary for a robbery-murder special circumstance. (People v.

Poggi (1988) 45 Cal.3d 306, 326-327 [246 Cal.Rptr. 886, 753 P.2d 1082]; People v. Anderson (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1104, 1138-1147 [240 Cal.Rptr. 585, 742 P.2d 1306].) Penalty Issues 1. Instructions on sympathy and mitigating evidence. Defendant claims the trial court erred (1) by failing to countermand the standard “antisympathy” instruction given at the guilt trial and (2) by refusing defense instructions on character and background as “mitigating” evidence. No basis for reversal appears.

The trial court instructed in the statutory language that the jury could consider “[a]ny . . . circumstance which extenuates the gravity of the crime even though it is not a legal excuse for the crime . . . .” (§ 190.3, factor (k), italics added; CALJIC, former No. 8.84.1, factor (k).) At the defendants’ request, the court added the phrase “including but not limited to the defendant’s character, background, mental condition and physical condition.” In his argument, the prosecutor minimized the importance of defense evidence in mitigation but never suggested that any evidence proffered by the defense was legally irrelevant.

Hence, there is no reasonable likelihood the jury was misled about its constitutional and statutory duty to consider every “aspect of ‘[the] defendant’s character or record . . . that the defendant proffers as a basis for a sentence less than death.’ ” (People v. Easley (1983) 34 Cal.3d 858, 878 & fn. 10 [196 Cal.Rptr. 309, 671 P.2d 813], quoting Lockett v. Ohio (1978) 438 U.S. 586, 604 [57 L.Ed.2d 973, 990, 98 S.Ct. 2954] [plur. opn.]; see Boyde v. California (1990) 494 U.S. 370, 381-382 [108 L.Ed.2d 316, 329-330, 110 S.Ct. 1190]; People v.

Gonzalez (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1179, 1225 & fn. 23 [275 Cal.Rptr. 729, 800 P.2d 1159].) Defendant claims the court should have substituted “mitigates” for “extenuates” as he suggested. However, the words are synonyms, and defendant fails to show how use of the statutory term “extenuates” obscured the jury’s understanding. The court did not err by refusing the proffered substitution.

Defendant contends the court’s failure to countermand the standard guilt phase “antisympathy” instruction (CALJIC No. 1.00) left the penalty jury insufficiently informed about its duty to “ ‘consider any “sympathy factor” raised by the evidence before it.’ ” (People v. Easley, supra, 34 Cal.3d at p. 876, quoting People v.

Robertson (1982) 33 Cal.3d 21, 58 [188 Cal.Rptr. 77, 655 P.2d 279].) On the contrary, the trial court gave a defense instruction that in weighing the “sympathetic elements” of the defendant’s background, “the jury may consider pity, sympathy and mercy . . . .” Defendant’s assertion, that the prosecutor argued sympathy was irrelevant, lacks merit. The prosecutor maintained that the evidence in mitigation was weak, and he invited the jury to accord defendant the same mercy defendant showed his victim. No suggestion was made, however, that consideration of sympathy would be legally improper.

The jury cannot have been misled. 2. Instructions on scope of sentencing authority. Defendant argues the court erred by instructing, in the language of the 1978 death penalty law, that the jury “shall” impose the death penalty if it determines that the aggravating circumstances “outweigh” those in mitigation. (§ 190.3; CALJIC, former No. 8.84.2.) These instructions, he claims, improperly suggested the death penalty is “mandatory” under certain circumstances.

We have concluded that the 1978 law’s “shall/outweigh” language, properly construed, does not limit the sentencer’s discretion to decide the appropriate penalty under the evidence. “Weighing” is neither a mechanical counting of factors nor an arbitrary assignment of values. It is the subjective mental process by which the sentencer “determines under the relevant evidence which penalty [it believes] is appropriate in the particular case. [Fn. omitted.]” (People v. Brown (1985) 40 Cal.3d 512, 541 [220 Cal.Rptr. 637, 709 P.2d 440]; see People v.

Boyde (1988) 46 Cal.3d 212, 253 [250 Cal.Rptr. 83, 758 P.2d 25].) In Brown, supra, we expressed concern that instructions phrased in the “unadorned” statutory language might sometimes be misleading.

Therefore, we endorsed more elaborate explanatory instructions for use in subsequent trials. (40 Cal.3d at pp. 544, fn. 17, 545, fn. 19.) On the other hand, we examine pre-Brown trials in which the “unadorned” instruction was given to determine “whether, in context, the sentencer may have been misled to defendant’s prejudice about the scope of its sentencing discretion . . . .” (Id., at p. 544, fn. 17.) Here, in addition to the “unadorned” standard instructions, the jury received a defense instruction that the mere counting of opposing factors was wrong, and that “[t]he particular weight of such opposing circumstances is not determined by the relative number, but by their relative convincing force on the ultimate question [of] punishment.” Furthermore, the prosecutor did nothing to exploit possible ambiguities in the “unadorned” instructions.

His argument was brief and restrained. He simply claimed that aggravation outweighed mitigation, that mercy was not warranted, that defendant’s culpability might be even greater than Madrigal’s, but that both men deserved death. Under these circumstances, the jury cannot have been misled about its discretion to impose the appropriate penalty under the particular circumstances. No basis for reversal appears. 3. Remorselessness as aggravating factor.

Defendant also claims that by stressing defendant’s mercilessness toward the murder and robbery victims, the prosecutor improperly urged absence of remorse as a “nonstatutory” aggravating factor. However, the prosecutor never stated that absence of remorse was aggravating. Moreover, evidence that the murder of Burke and the robbery of Yitshaky were particularly remorseless could be considered in aggravation.

Section 190.3, factor (a), “allows the sentencer to evaluate all aggravating and mitigating aspects of the capital crime itself. Moreover, there is nothing inherent in the issue of remorse which makes it mitigating only. The defendant’s overt indifference or callousness toward his misdeed bears significantly on the moral decision whether a greater punishment, rather than a lesser, should be imposed. [Citation omitted.]” (People v.

Gonzalez, supra, 51 Cal.3d 1179, 1232, italics in original, some italics omitted.) By similar reasoning, the prosecution may also show and argue in aggravation that other “violent criminal activity” by the defendant (§ 190.3, factor (b)) was particularly brutal, callous, and remorseless. (See People v. Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d 713, 757.) No improper argument occurred. 4. “Other crimes" instructions. The pertinent sentencing factors were submitted to the jury in the standard language of

section 190.3 (see CALJIC, former No. 8.84.1), including factors (a) (“[t]he circumstances of the crime of which the defendant was convicted in the present proceeding . . . .”), (b) (“[t]he presence or absence of [violent] criminal activity by the defendant . . . .”), and (c) (“[t]he presence or absence of any prior felony conviction.”). The court refhsed proffered defense instructions which would have specified that factors (a), (b), and (

c) constitute mutually exclusive categories of crimes and do not overlap. Defendant claims this was error. Defendant is correct in his assertion that factors (

a) and (

b) are mutually exclusive. “[T]he term ‘criminal activity [involving] force or violence’ as used in [factor] (

b) is limited to conduct other than the immediate circumstances for which the death penalty is being contemplated. [Citation omitted.]” (People v. Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d 713, 763; People v. Miranda (1987) 44 Cal.3d 57, 105-106 [241 Cal.Rptr. 594, 744 P.2d 1127].) Four years ago we stated that instructions in future cases should make clear the distinction between factors (

a) and (b) “in order to avoid any possible confusion on this point.” (Miranda, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 106, fn. 28.) However, we have not suggested that courts erred in earlier cases by refusing to elaborate upon the statutory language. Indeed, we have stressed that any ambiguity in the earlier standard factor (a)-(

b) instruction was unlikely to cause prejudice. Unless invited to do so by the prosecutor, we observed, “jurors are unlikely to give the circumstances of the current crime greater weight in the penalty determination simply because they appear to be included in two separate categories of statutory ‘aggravation.’ ” (People v. Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 763.) No such exploitation occurred here. Furthermore, the court did not err by refusing instructions that distinguished factor (

c) from both factors (

a) and (b). The statutory language already separates factor (

c) from factor (

a) by limiting the jury’s consideration to “prior” felony convictions. And, contrary to the import of the defense instruction, factors (

b) and (

c) may overlap; if defendant engaged in “violent criminal activity” which resulted in a “prior felony conviction,” the jury may consider the violence under factor (

b) and the conviction under factor (c). (Melton, supra, 44 Cal.3d 713, 764.) 5. Admission of “subsequent” felony conviction. Defendant claims the trial court erred by admitting his conviction of the Pacoima robbery as aggravating evidence under

section 190.3, factor (c). He notes our holding in People v. Balderas (1985) 41 Cal.3d 144 [222 Cal.Rptr. 184, 711 P.2d 480], that while factor (

b) of

section 190.3 “imposes no time limitation” on the introduction of violent criminal conduct committed by the defendant, “the ‘prior felony convictionfs]’ described in [factor] (c) . . . are limited to those entered before commission of the capital crime. . . .” (Balderas, supra, at p. 201, third italics in original.) As defendant suggests, his conviction of the Pacoima robbery, like the robbery itself, occurred after the capital robbery-murder was committed against Burke. The subsequent robbery conviction was therefore inadmissible under Balderas as an independent factor in aggravation. (See also People v.

Morales, supra, 48 Cal.3d 527, 567.) However, defendant failed to object or request limiting instructions when the conviction was introduced in evidence. Indeed, for obvious tactical reasons, the defense sought to stipulate to the convictions as a means of excluding the underlying facts. Hence, the issue is waived on appeal. In any event, no basis for reversal appears. The Pacoima robbery conviction, based on defendant’s guilty plea, was admissible under factor (

b) as proof of his participation in the underlying violent criminal activity. (See, e.g., People v. Hayes, supra, 52 Cal.3d 577, 632-633 [juvenile adjudication for violent criminality]; People v. Lucky (1988) 45 Cal.3d 259, 294-295 [247 Cal.Rptr. 1, 753 P.2d 1052] [same].) Such proof was significant considering the victim’s failure to identify defendant at the penalty trial. Moreover, though the prosecutor also incorrectly argued the conviction’s relevance under factor (c), and the jury received no contrary instruction, we see no prejudice.

Once the brutal facts of the Pacoima robbery were disclosed, “[t]he additional fact that defendant was convicted of that offense could have added very little to the total picture considered by the jury . . . (Morales, supra, 48 Cal.3d at p. 567, italics in original.) 6. Substitution of penalty counsel. Defendant maintains he was entitled to a mistrial, or to a new penalty jury, when illness forced Attorney O’Brien to withdraw as his appointed counsel at the conclusion of the guilt phase.

Defendant asserts that because substitute penalty counsel, William Owen, was not present at the guilt trial, Owen could not effectively reargue the credibility of guilt phase witnesses in order to establish “lingering doubt” as a factor in mitigation. The only solution, defendant suggests, was to empanel a new penalty jury which would rehear the guilt phase evidence in Owen’s presence. In defendant’s view, the court had a sua sponte duty to order such remedies here. Alternatively, he suggests, counsel was ineffective for failing to request them.

Courts of Appeal have held that a fundamental deprivation of the right to effective representation may occur when circumstances force replacement of defense counsel for closing arguments only. The cases reason that substitute counsel has no means of raising credibility issues in counsel’s summation, because counsel was not present to observe the witnesses’ demeanor. A retrial may therefore be necessary, in which the evidence is presented to a new jury with substitute counsel present. (People v. Mans on (1976) 61 Cal.App.3d 102, 197-203 [132 Cal.Rptr. 265]; see also People v.

Gibbs (1986) 111 Cal.App.3d 763, 766 [223 Cal.Rptr. 194].) A different situation arises, however, when substitution becomes necessary between the guilt and penalty phases of a capital trial. The jury has already heard the credibility arguments of guilt phase counsel who was present for testimony, and has nonetheless convicted the defendant of capital murder.

The separate penalty phase assumes the validity of the capital conviction, then addresses a different issue—which available punishment is appropriate under all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. “Lingering doubt” arguments are often unwise, for they risk antagonizing a jury that has already found the defendant guilty. The theoretical possibility of a lingering-doubt argument does not automatically require the heroic and cumbersome procedure defendant suggests.

The trial court in this case had no sua sponte duty to empanel a new penalty jury simply because guilt counsel was forced to withdraw before the penalty phase commenced. Nor does counsel’s failure to press the issue warrant reversal on a theory of ineffective assistance. Though Attorney O’Brien and his guilt phase colleagues argued credibility issues with vigor, the jury had clearly rejected them and had accepted every prosecution theory of defendant’s role and guilt. The eyewitness and circumstantial evidence supporting their verdicts was very strong indeed.

Moreover, a contemporaneous example of defendant’s violent criminal leadership was presented at the penalty phase. Under these circumstances, the penalty jury was unlikely to give lingering doubt substantial weight on the issue of penalty. Any hindrance of penalty counsel’s ability to present a lingering-doubt argument does not undermine confidence in the outcome. 7. Miscellaneous contentions. Defendant makes two other arguments on the issue of penalty which have been thoroughly considered and rejected in prior cases.

The contentions, and the dispositive contrary authority, are as follows: “Triple-counting” the same facts (murder in the commission of robbery) as first degree murder, a death-qualifying special circumstance, and an aggravating factor at the penalty phase, violates guaranties against cruel and unusual punishment, double jeopardy, and multiple punishment. (People v. Marshall (1990) 50 Cal.3d 907, 945-946 [269 Cal.Rptr. 269, 790 P.2d 676]; People v. Balderas, supra, 41 Cal.3d 144, 199-200; see Lowenfield v.

Phelps (1988) 484 U.S. 231, 241-246 [98 L.Ed.2d 568, 579-583, 108 S.Ct. 546].) The death penalty may be imposed only for a deliberate and premeditated murder which also includes a special circumstance. (Tison v. Arizona (1987) 481 U.S. 137 [95 L.Ed.2d 127, 716, 107 S.Ct. 1676]; Cabana v. Bullock (1986) 474 U.S. 376, 386 [88 L.Ed.2d 704, 716, 106 S.Ct. 689]; People v. Anderson, supra, 43 Cal.3d 1104, 1138-1148.) Habeas Corpus Defendant has submitted a petition for habeas corpus alleging ineffective trial assistance and newly discovered evidence.

Defendant claims that the failure of guilt phase counsel, Vincent O’Brien, to investigate a defense based on drug and alcohol intoxication and combat-induced PTSD was prejudicial at both the guilt and penalty phases. Defendant further asserts that O’Brien’s failure to seek live witnesses to defendant’s heroism in Vietnam hindered substitute penalty phase counsel and caused the omission of important evidence in mitigation of penal

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