Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FL SC Death Penalty Order
FL SC Death Penalty Order
No. SC18-2061
____________
vs.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
PER CURIAM.
Jonathan Huey Lawrence appeals his sentence of death for the 1998 first-
proceeding. We have jurisdiction, see art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const., and affirm. As
is more fully explained below, although Lawrence’s original death sentence was
that his sentence of death is not proportional. The State argues that this Court is
legally prohibited, by the Florida Constitution, from reviewing death sentences for
agree with the State and hold that the conformity clause of article I, section 17 of
the Florida Constitution forbids this Court from analyzing death sentences for
BACKGROUND
a person under twenty-one, and abuse of a dead human corpse, and he was
sentenced to death for Robinson’s murder. Lawrence v. State, 846 So. 2d 440, 442
(Fla. 2003). Robinson’s murder followed two separate criminal episodes in which
Lawrence and his codefendant murdered one individual and attempted to murder
another individual. See id. at 443 n.3. We detailed the facts of Robinson’s murder
on direct appeal, explaining that Lawrence and his codefendant, who was also
carried out their crimes against Robinson in accordance with notes in Lawrence’s
handwriting:
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pictures of the body, including a picture of Lawrence’s hand holding
Robinson’s foot. Lawrence and Rodgers buried Robinson at that site.
Investigators traced Robinson’s disappearance to Lawrence and
Rodgers. When confronted by Investigator Todd Hand, Lawrence
denied knowing Robinson and consented to Hand’s request to search
Lawrence’s trailer and truck. After recovering multiple notes written
by Lawrence and Polaroid photographs depicting Robinson post-
mortem, Hand arrested Lawrence. One page of the recovered notes
states in part: “get her very drunk,” “yell in her ears to check
consicouse [sic],” “even slap hard,” “[r]ape many, many, many
times,” “ ‘slice and dice,’ [d]isect [sic] completely,” “bag up eatabile
[sic] meats,” and “bag remains and bury and burn.” Another page of
notes provides a list of items and tasks, some of which had been
checked off or scribbled out. That list includes “coolers of ice = for
new meat,” strawberry wine, everclear alcohol, scalpels, Polaroid
film, and “.380 or-and bowies [knives].” Other items located by
investigators during their search of Lawrence’s trailer and truck
included a box for a Lorcin .380 handgun; empty Polaroid film
packages; a piece of human tissue in Lawrence’s freezer; a blue and
white ice chest; an empty plastic ice bag; disposable gloves; a
scrapbook; and several books, including an anatomy book []titled The
Incredible Machine, within which had been marked female anatomy
pages and pen lines drawn at the calf section of a leg. Lawrence
subsequently confessed to his involvement, after waiving his Miranda
[v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)] rights, and led detectives to
Robinson’s body.
Id. at 442-43 (footnotes omitted). On direct appeal, Lawrence appealed only his
sentence of death, and we affirmed, id. at 446, including on the basis that
which we have upheld the imposition of the death penalty, id. at 452-55.
motion and denied his habeas petition. Lawrence v. State, 969 So. 2d 294, 315
(Fla. 2007).
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Thereafter, the trial court granted Lawrence’s successive postconviction
motion, vacated his death sentence, and ordered a new penalty phase proceeding
pursuant to Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), receded from by State v.
Lawrence sent a handwritten letter to the trial court requesting that his death
evidence. After inquiring of Lawrence and hearing testimony from a doctor who
had evaluated Lawrence and found him competent, the trial court found
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Marquardt v. State, 156 So. 3d 464 (Fla. 2015), to assist it in considering available
mitigation.
hearing, the trial court sentenced Lawrence to death, finding that the aggravating
follows:
2. The trial court found that the State had proven two statutory aggravating
circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt and assigned both of them great weight:
(1) the defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony
involving the use or threat of violence to the person; and (2) the murder was
committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner.
3. The trial court found and assigned moderate weight to two statutory
mitigating circumstances: (1) the capital felony was committed while Lawrence
was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance; and (2) the
capacity of Lawrence to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his
conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired.
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The Court has carefully considered and weighed the
aggravating and mitigating circumstances found to exist in this
penalty phase. The State has proven beyond and to the exclusion of
every reasonable doubt the existence of two serious aggravators. The
prior violent felony aggravator was given great weight due to the fact
that both prior offenses were committed prior to the murder of
Jennifer Robinson, were committed with the co-defendant, Rodgers,
and involved murder and attempted murder. Both of these prior
crimes were senselessly violent and without any moral or legal
justification. They are indicative of the same total disregard for
human life evidenced in this case. In each case, Lawrence and
Rodgers killed or attempted to kill another human being. In addition,
the cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravator was given great
weight due to Lawrence’s significant involvement in the planning,
preparation, and execution of the murder.
The Court finds that these two aggravators greatly outweigh all
of the statutory and non-statutory mitigating circumstances, inclusive
of the significant mental mitigation.
ANALYSIS
comparison to other cases in which the sentence of death has been imposed. The
State urges us to recede from precedent holding that we must review the
sentencing in death penalty proceedings,” Rogers v. State, 285 So. 3d 872, 891
(Fla. 2019), by reserving the death penalty “for only the most aggravated and least
mitigated of first-degree murders.” Id. at 892 (quoting Urbin v. State, 714 So. 2d
411, 416 (Fla. 1998)); see also Fla. R. App. P. 9.142(a)(5) (providing that the
Court shall review proportionality on direct appeal whether or not the issue is
presented by the parties). In support of its argument, the State contends that
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comparative proportionality review violates the conformity clause of article I,
section 17 of the Florida Constitution. We agree with the State and write to
explain why our precedent is erroneous and must yield to our constitution.
provides that “[t]he prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment, and the
with decisions of the United States Supreme Court which interpret the prohibition
against cruel and unusual punishment provided in the Eighth Amendment to the
United States Constitution.” The Supreme Court has held that comparative
Amendment. Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 50-51 (1984) (“There is . . . no basis
[in Supreme Court case law] for holding that comparative proportionality review
In Yacob v. State, 136 So. 3d 539, 546-49 (Fla. 2014), this Court addressed
survived the addition of the conformity clause to article I, section 17 of the Florida
Constitution in 2002. In holding that it did, Yacob sourced the requirement for
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outside of article I, section 17. Specifically, Yacob held that comparative
921.141, Florida Statutes,” Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 546, from the due process clause
of article I, section 9 of the Florida Constitution, id. at 549, and from article V,
section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution, which grants this Court mandatory,
exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from final judgments of trial courts imposing
the death penalty, id. at 547. None of these provisions, however, requires the
in our procedural rules as within the scope of our appellate review. See Fla. R.
App. P. 9.142(a)(5).
section 921.141, Florida Statutes (2019). Yet, Yacob read this requirement into the
portion of the statute which provides that “[t]he judgment of conviction and
accordance with rules adopted by” this Court. § 921.141(5), Fla. Stat. (2019); see
Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 546 (quoting then-subsection (4) of the statute for this
proposition). In support of this conclusion, Yacob reasoned that this Court had
death sentences” in State v. Dixon, 283 So. 2d 1, 10 (Fla. 1973). Yacob, 136 So. 3d
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at 546. However, Dixon did no such thing. Rather, as Justice Canady explained in
Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 561 (Canady, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Tillman v. State, 591 So. 2d 167 (Fla. 1991), which cited two provisions of the
proportionality review. These provisions were the due process clause of article I,
section 9, and the provision granting this court mandatory, exclusive jurisdiction
over appeals from final judgments of trial courts imposing the death penalty—
article V, section (3)(b)(1). See Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 547, 549 (citing Tillman’s
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proportionality review). However, neither provision imposes any such requirement
for the reasons Justice Canady explained in dissenting from this portion of Yacob:
Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 561-62 (Canady, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
was the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment found in article I, section
provision in 2002. See Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 560-61 (Canady, J., concurring in part
and dissenting in part) (summarizing this Court’s “repeated reliance on the cruel
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and unusual punishments prohibition as the basis for our proportionality review”).
requirement for comparative proportionality review and have wrongly written this
requirement into our procedural rules governing the scope of our appellate review.
See Amendments to the Fla. Rules of Appellate Procedure, 894 So. 2d 202, 204,
“make the rule consistent with this Court’s practice” concerning the scope of its
appellate review).
When confronted with the issue in Yacob, this Court should have held that a
Amendment, see Pulley 465 U.S. at 50-51. We cannot judicially rewrite our state
text does not. See art. II, § 3, Fla. Const. Nor can we ignore our constitutional
prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment to the Supreme Court’s Eighth
Supreme Court has held the Eighth Amendment does not. See art. I, § 17, Fla.
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Yacob Must Yield to the Florida Constitution
The State argues that we should recede from Yacob. We recently explained
Viewing our erroneous decision in Yacob through this lens, we fail to find “a
valid reason why not to recede from” it. Poole, 297 So. 3d at 507. In light of the
Supreme Court’s decision in Pulley, the conformity clause expressly forecloses this
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predicated on the Eighth Amendment. 4 The reliance interests of death-sentenced
review. In contrast, victims and the State have strong interests in this Court’s
do not exist. See Yacob, 136 So. 3d at 549 n.2. Florida’s death penalty statute
4. We note, however, that Florida’s conformity clause does not preclude the
Legislature from requiring comparative proportionality review of death sentences
by statute. Although the State argued to the contrary in its brief, at oral argument,
the State appeared to concede the point that our conformity clause is not so broadly
worded as to preclude a statutory requirement for comparative proportionality
review. Indeed, other state legislatures have mandated comparative proportionality
review by statute. See, e.g., State v. Wood, 580 S.W.3d 566, 590 (Mo. 2019)
(explaining that section 565.035.3., Mo. Rev. Stat., “imposes an independent duty
on [the Supreme Court of Missouri] to undertake a proportionality review to
determine,” among other things, “(3) [w]hether the sentence of death is excessive
or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the
crime, the strength of the evidence and the defendant”). We express no opinion as
to whether the Florida Legislature should adopt such a requirement; we simply
note that the State is incorrect to the extent it contends that the Florida Legislature
could not do so.
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comports with due process; it has been amended since Yacob to comply with
imposition of the death penalty; and, since Yacob, it has been amended to exceed
what the federal and state constitutions require by mandating (in non-jury-waiver
§ 921.141(2)(c). 7
6. See also McKinney v. Arizona, 140 S. Ct. 702, 707 (2020) (“Under Ring
[v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002),] and Hurst [v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016)], a
jury must find the aggravating circumstance that makes the defendant death
eligible. But importantly, in a capital sentencing proceeding, just as in an ordinary
sentencing proceeding, a jury (as opposed to a judge) is not constitutionally
required to weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances or to make the
ultimate decision within the relevant sentencing range.”); Poole, 297 So. 3d at 507
(“reced[ing] from Hurst v. State except to the extent it requires a jury unanimously
to find the existence of a statutory aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable
doubt”).
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Accordingly, we recede from Yacob’s requirement to review death sentences
review from the scope of our appellate review set forth in rule 9.142(a)(5).
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we decline to review Lawrence’s claim that his
It is so ordered.
CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LAWSON, MUÑIZ, and COURIEL, JJ., concur.
LABARGA, J., dissents with an opinion.
GROSSHANS, J., did not participate.
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LABARGA, J., dissenting.
Today, the majority takes the most consequential step yet in dismantling the
have impacted death penalty law in Florida. On January 23, 2020, this Court
decided State v. Poole, 297 So. 3d 487 (Fla. 2020). As I noted in my dissent in
Poole, despite the clearly defined historical basis for requiring unanimous jury
verdicts in Florida, this Court receded from the requirement that juries must
3d at 513 (Labarga, J., dissenting). After 2016, only the state of Alabama
permitted a nonunanimous (10-2) jury recommendation. 9 Poole paved the way for
Florida to return to an absolute outlier status of being one of only two states that
On May 14, 2020, this Court decided Bush v. State, 295 So. 3d 179 (Fla.
2020). In that case, this Court uprooted the long applied heightened standard of
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review in cases that are wholly based on circumstantial evidence. Under the
suspicion, even though it would tend to justify the suspicion that the defendant
committed the crime, it is not sufficient to sustain [a] conviction. It is the actual
with the force of proof sufficient to convict.” Davis v. State, 90 So. 2d 629, 631-32
(Fla. 1956). This standard, applied for more than one hundred years, served as an
Bush, 295 So. 3d at 216 (Fla. 2020) (Labarga, J., concurring in part and dissenting
in part). “The solemn duty imposed upon this Court in reviewing death cases more
than justifies the stringent review that has historically been applied in cases based
On May 21, 2020, this Court decided Phillips v. State, 299 So. 3d 1013 (Fla.
2020). In Phillips, this Court receded from Walls v. State, 213 So. 3d 340 (Fla.
2016) (holding that Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701 (2014), is to be retroactively
applied). The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hall held that Florida
law, which barred individuals with an IQ score above 70 from demonstrating that
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they were intellectually disabled, “creates an unacceptable risk that persons with
The Supreme Court concluded: “This Court agrees with the medical experts that
when a defendant’s IQ test score falls within the test’s acknowledged and inherent
In Walls, this Court held that Hall is to be retroactively applied. The majority’s
recede from Walls, “an individual with significant deficits in adaptive functioning,
and who under a holistic consideration of the three criteria for intellectual
such because of the timing of his legal process. This arbitrary result undermines
In each of these cases, I dissented, and I lamented the erosion of our death
pillar of our mandatory review in direct appeal cases. As a result, no longer is this
Court required to review death sentences for proportionality. I could not dissent
more strongly to this decision, one that severely undermines the reliability of this
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Court’s decisions on direct appeal, and more broadly, Florida’s death penalty
jurisprudence.
Until today, this Court has for decades carried out its solemn responsibility
to evaluate each death sentence for both the sufficiency of the evidence on which
the State relied to convict the defendant, and the proportionality of the death
sentence when compared with other cases. We have consistently explained: “In
death penalty cases, this Court conducts an independent review of the sufficiency
of the evidence.” Caylor v. State, 78 So. 3d 482, 500 (Fla. 2011) (citing Phillips v.
State, 39 So. 3d 296, 308 (Fla. 2010)). Whether the evidence is sufficient is judged
by whether it is competent and substantial. See Blake v. State, 972 So. 2d 839, 850
(Fla. 2007). “In conducting this review, we view the evidence in the light most
favorable to the State to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found
the existence of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Rodgers v.
State, 948 So. 2d 655, 674 (Fla. 2006) (citing Bradley v. State, 787 So. 2d 732, 738
(Fla. 2001)).
(citing Wade v. State, 41 So. 3d 857, 879 (Fla. 2010)). “In deciding whether death
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is a proportionate penalty, ‘we make a comprehensive analysis in order to
determine whether the crime falls within the category of both the most aggravated
and the least mitigated of murders, thereby assuring uniformity in the application
of the sentence.’ ” Offord v. State, 959 So. 2d 187, 191 (Fla. 2007) (quoting
Anderson v. State, 841 So. 2d 390, 407-08 (Fla. 2003)). “This entails ‘a qualitative
review . . . of the underlying basis for each aggravator and mitigator rather than a
quantitative analysis.’ ” Id. (quoting Urbin v. State, 714 So. 2d 411, 416 (Fla.
1998)).
level of judicial scrutiny or process than would lesser penalties.” Tillman v. State,
591 So. 2d 167, 169 (Fla. 1991). In fact, the sufficiency of the evidence and the
that they are conducted regardless of whether the defendant challenges sufficiency
and proportionality on direct appeal. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.142(a)(5) (“On direct
proportionality is an issue presented for review, the court shall review these issues
Dixon, 283 So. 2d 1, 10 (Fla. 1973), superseded on other grounds by ch. 74-383,
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§ 14, Laws of Fla., as stated in State v. Dene, 533 So. 2d 265, 267 (Fla. 1988), in
In the decades since Dixon, a robust body of case law, consisting of literally
hundreds of cases, has reaffirmed this rationale and continually strengthened the
While the overwhelming majority of this Court’s death penalty cases are
upheld on proportionality grounds, the fact that this Court has reversed death
review. See, e.g., McCloud v. State, 208 So. 3d 668 (Fla. 2016); Phillips v. State,
207 So. 3d 212 (Fla. 2016); Yacob v. State, 136 So. 3d 539 (Fla. 2014); Scott v.
State, 66 So. 3d 923 (Fla. 2011); Crook v. State, 908 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 2005);
Williams v. State, 707 So. 2d 683 (Fla. 1998); Jones v. State, 705 So. 2d 1364 (Fla.
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1998); Voorhees v. State, 699 So. 2d 602 (Fla. 1997); Curtis v. State, 685 So. 2d
1234 (Fla. 1996); Sinclair v. State, 657 So. 2d 1138 (Fla. 1995). Yet, I emphasize
that not only is the reversal of a death sentence on proportionality grounds a rare
a “get out of jail free” card. It means that the death penalty is not a proportionate
law requires.
Court’s mandatory review in death penalty appeals, leaves only the sufficiency
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 59 (2011). Contrary to the conclusion reached by
United States Supreme Court, and thus, not a violation of the conformity clause
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United States Supreme Court concluded in Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37 (1984),
that proportionality review was not constitutionally mandated, the Supreme Court
Thus, I disagree with the majority’s reasoning that because the Supreme
“additional safeguard” against the very thing the Eighth Amendment prohibits—
in Pulley:
an additional safeguard—combined with the fact that the Supreme Court has not
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held proportionality review unconstitutional—affirms that in this case, the majority
could well have concluded that proportionality does not run afoul of the
conformity clause. Instead, yet again placing Florida outside of the majority of
death penalty states, the majority has chosen to construe the United States Supreme
unfortunate departure from settled law is the fact that proportionality review is
impose the death penalty. 10 Sixty percent of those twenty-five states, not including
10. The list of death penalty states, which does not include three states with
a gubernatorial moratorium (California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania), is as follows:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina,
Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
and Wyoming. See Death Penalty Information Center, State by State,
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state (last visited
May 20, 2020).
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Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South
requirement. State v. Honie, 57 P.3d 977, 988 (Utah 2002) (“Despite the fact that
11. Ala. Code § 13A-5-53(b)(3) (2020); Petric v. State, 157 So. 3d 176, 250
(Ala. Crim. App. 2013); Ga. Code Ann. § 17-10-35(c)(3) (West 2020); Willis v.
State, 820 S.E.2d 640, 650 (Ga. 2018); Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 532.075(3)(c) (West
2020); White v. Commonwealth, 544 S.W.3d 125, 155 (Ky. 2018), 139 S. Ct. 532
(2019), abrogated by Woodall v. Commonwealth, 563 S.W.3d 1 (Ky. 2018); La.
Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 905.9 (2019); La. Sup. Ct. Gen. Admin. R. XXVIII
§ 1(c); State v. Burrell, 561 So. 2d 692, 711 (La. 1990); State v. Kyles, 513 So. 2d
265, 276 (La. 1987); Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-105(3)(c) (2020); Ambrose v. State,
254 So. 3d 77, 151 (Miss. 2018), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 1379 (2019); Mo. Rev.
Stat. § 565.035.3(3) (2019); State v. Collings, 450 S.W.3d 741, 767 (Mo. 2014);
State v. Deck, 303 S.W.3d 527, 550 (Mo. 2010); Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-310
(2019); State v. Smith, 931 P.2d 1272, 1283-84 (Mont. 1996); Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann.
§§ 29-2521.01-29-2521.04 (West 2020); State v. Schroeder, 941 N.W.2d 445, 470
(Neb. 2020); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-2000(d)(2) (West 2019); State v. McNeill, 813
S.E.2d 797, 838-39 (N.C. 2018), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 1292 (2019); Ohio Rev.
Code Ann. § 2929.05(A) (West 2020); State v. Myers, 114 N.E.3d 1138, 1185
(Ohio 2018), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 822 (2019); S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-25(C)(3)
(2020); State v. Inman, 720 S.E.2d 31, 46 (S.C. 2011); S.D. Codified Laws § 23A-
27A-12(3) (2020); State v. Piper, 842 N.W.2d 338, 347-48 (S.D. 2014); Tenn.
Code Ann. § 39-13-206(c)(1)(D) (West 2020); State v. Jones, 568 S.W.3d 101, 141
(Tenn. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 262 (2019); Va. Code Ann. § 17.1-
313(C)(2), (E) (West 2020); Lawlor v. Commonwealth, 738 S.E.2d 847, 894-95
(Va. 2013).
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sentences for disproportionality.”); State v. Wood, 648 P.2d 71, 77 (Utah 1982)
(“In the penalty phase, it is our duty to determine whether the sentence of death
State v. Maestas, 299 P.3d 892, 987 (Utah 2012); State v. Andrews, 574 P.2d 709,
710-11 (Utah 1977); State v. Pierre, 572 P.2d 1338, 1345 (Utah 1977).
“means that this Court will not allow sentencing authorities to impose the death
that over time, as this Court becomes aware of a general pattern in the imposition
of the death penalty in this state, the Court may set aside death sentences that fall
outside the general pattern and thus reflect an anomaly in the imposition of the
death penalty.” State v. Holland, 777 P.2d 1019, 1025-26 (Utah 1989). The court
stated that this review function “substantially eliminates the possibility that a
person will be sentenced to die by the action of an aberrant jury.” State v. Pierre,
572 P.2d 1338, 1345 (Utah 1977) (quoting Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 206
(1976)).
supreme courts have emphasized its importance. The Supreme Court of Virginia
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reasoned judgment regarding what cases justify the imposition of the death
penalty. We cannot insure complete symmetry among all death penalty cases, but
our review does enable us to identify and invalidate a death sentence that is
Commonwealth, 519 S.E.2d 808, 817 (Va. 1999) (quoting Va. Code Ann. § 17.1-
313(C)(2)); see also Lawlor v. Commonwealth, 738 S.E.2d 847, 894-95 (Va.
2013).
Similarly, the Tennessee Supreme Court has recognized that “the purposes
will be sentenced to death by the action of an aberrant jury and to guard against the
review of capital cases insures rationality and consistency in the imposition of the
death penalty.” State v. Bland, 958 S.W.2d 651, 665 (Tenn. 1997) (citing State v.
Barber, 753 S.W.2d 659, 665-66 (Tenn. 1988)); see also State v. White, 565 S.E.2d
55, 68 (N.C. 2002) (recognizing that “[p]roportionality review also acts ‘[a]s a
check against the capricious or random imposition of the death penalty.’ ” (quoting
State v. Barfield, 259 S.E.2d 510, 544 (N.C. 1979))); State v. Ramsey, 864 S.W.2d
320, 328 (Mo. 1993) (stating that proportionality review “is designed by the
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sentences.”); State v. Kyles, 513 So. 2d 265, 276 (La. 1987) (stating that although
Failing to consider a death sentence in the context of other death penalty cases
Conclusion
envisioned by the United States Supreme Court in Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101
(1958), our state’s jurisprudence has in many instances provided its citizenry with
greater rights and protections than the minimum required by the United States
Supreme Court, the federal government, and other states. In this instance, our state
has consistently done just that, by requiring a proportionality review in every death
penalty case, thus providing “an additional safeguard against arbitrarily imposed
death sentences.” Pulley, 465 U.S. at 50. As noted earlier, sixty percent of the
twenty-five states that currently impose the death penalty require a proportionality
review.
not completely, repudiated by this Court’s various opinions, beginning with its
decision in Poole, followed by Bush and Phillips, and continuing with today’s
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decision to discontinue conducting a proportionality analysis in each death penalty
appeal.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court in and for Santa Rosa County,
David Rimmer, Judge - Case No. 571998CF000270XXAXMX
for Appellant
for Appellee
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