The People, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Charles F. Rountree, Defendant and Appellant

Summary

The court affirmed defendant’s convictions and death sentence for kidnapping, robbery, and the murder of Diana Contreras. It rejected challenges concerning venue, juror qualification, confession evidence, redactions, photographs, sufficiency of the kidnapping evidence, jury instructions, and penalty-phase proceedings, concluding that no reversible error occurred and that the sentence was not disproportionate. Justice Liu, concurring, agreed that the prospective juror was properly excused but would have emphasized that personal or religious beliefs alone do not justify excusal unless the juror cannot subordinate them to the law.