For the past two weeks, we’ve been studying death penalty appeals, both here and on the California Supreme Court Review blog. This week, we turn our attention to the authors of the Court’s majority opinions in death penalty cases.
Once again, we divide the cases into four results: (1) affirmance; (2) partial reversal with sentence affirmed; (3) partial reversal with sentence vacated; and (4) complete reversals. We report the authors of majority opinions in death penalty affirmances for the years 1990 through 2010, the year of the Court’s last death penalty opinion, in Table 539. Justice Heiple wrote nineteen majority opinions in death penalty affirmances. Justice Freeman wrote 17. Justice Miller wrote 15, and Justices McMorrow and Bilandic wrote 13 apiece. Justice Harrison wrote eight, Justice Nickels wrote seven, Justice Moran six, Justice Clark five, Justices Karmeier and Fitzgerald four apiece, Justices Rathje, Thomas and Cunningham two each, and Justices Burke, Garman, Stamos, Ryan, Calvo and Ward one each.
In Table 540, we report the majority opinions in partial reversals with sentences affirmed. Justice Miller wrote five majority opinions in such cases, Justice Harrison wrote three, Justices Stamos and Bilandic two each, and Justices Clark, McMorrow, Garman, Moran, Rathje and Ward wrote one each.
In Table 541, we report the majority opinions in partial reversals with sentences vacated. Justice Bilandic wrote six majority opinions in such cases. Justice McMorrow and Justice Freeman wrote four such majorities, Justice Heiple wrote three, Justices Miller, Moran, Nickels and Harrison wrote two apiece, and Justices Clark, Garman, Thomas and Fitzgerald wrote one majority opinion each.
Finally, the Court’s reversals. Justice McMorrow wrote six majority opinions in reversals. Justice Freeman wrote five, Justice Nickels four, Justice Fitzgerald three, Justices Miller, Ryan, Heiple, Rathje, Calvo and Harrison two each, and Justices Clark, Stamos, Kilbride and Bilandic wrote one majority opinion each.
Tomorrow we turn our attention to a related question: were majority opinions in death penalty reversals longer or shorter?
Image courtesy of Flickr by Alan Light (no changes).