Detaining Passengers in a Lawfully Stopped Vehicle.The Proof Requirements for Aggravating Circumstances

• Detention of Passengers in a Lawfully Stopped Vehicle
• “Unanimity” and “Burden of Proof” Requirements in the Penalty Phase of a Capital Case

Officers making a traffic stop may lawfully order passengers to remain in the vehicle for the duration of the traffic stop.  A jury need not be unanimous in determining which aggravating factors apply during the penalty phase of a capital murder case.  The burden of proof during the penalty phase in proving aggravating factors is proof by a preponderance of the evidence. 

Defendant Don’te Lamont McDaniel was a member of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, a Southeast Los Angeles street gang which controlled the Nickerson Gardens area; a large public housing complex.  At around 3:30 a.m. on April 6, 2004, defendant and another gangster (prosecuted separately) recruited (allegedly at gunpoint) Elois Garner to knock on the back door of a Nickerson Gardens apartment rented to Annette Anderson.  Inside the apartment at the time were Annette, George Brooks, Janice Williams and Debra ....