People v. Torres

Summary

The court upheld defendant’s convictions for three first degree murders and the death judgment, rejecting challenges to jury selection, evidentiary rulings, prosecutorial conduct, the sufficiency of the evidence, and the admission of his penalty-phase confession. It held that defendant forfeited or failed to establish several claims, that other errors were harmless, and that substantial evidence supported excusing a capital-case juror whose views would substantially impair his ability to follow the law. The opinion also concluded that the firearm evidence was not subject to exclusion because defendant failed to show bad-faith destruction of potentially useful evidence. No separate opinions were provided.