Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v John Taylor, Appellant
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2007-10-23
Citations: 9 N.Y.3d 129
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v John Taylor, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 9
Pages: 129–176

Head Matter:
[878 NE2d 969, 848 NYS2d 554]
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v John Taylor, Appellant.
Argued September 10, 2007;
decided October 23, 2007
POINTS OF COUNSEL
Kevin M. Doyle, Capital Defender, New York City (Susan H. Salomon and Barry J. Fisher of counsel), for appellant.
I. People v LaValle (3 NY3d 88 [2004]) requires voiding John Taylor’s death sentences. (People v Favor, 82 NY2d 254; People v Mitchell, 80 NY2d 519; People v Pepper, 53 NY2d 213; People v Hobson, 39 NY2d 479; Payne v Tennessee, 501 US 808; Arizona v Rumsey, 467 US 203; Semanchuck v Fifth Ave. & 37th St. Corp., 290 NY 412; People v Bing, 76 NY2d 331; People v Damiano, 87 NY2d 477; Grace Plaza of Great Neck v Elbaum, 82 NY2d 10.) II. Since the death penalty no longer functions in this state, John Taylor’s execution would not measurably further any goals of punishment; it would therefore constitute cruel and unusual punishment and violate, as well, this State’s common-law principles granting offenders the benefits of ameliorated punishment. (People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; Pulley v Harris, 465 US 37; Furman v Georgia, 408 US 238; Gregg v Georgia, 428 US 153; Coker v Georgia, 433 US 584; Enmund v Florida, 458 US 782; Walton v Arizona, 497 US 639; McCleskey v Kemp, 481 US 279; Thompson v Oklahoma, 487 US 815; People v Hooks, 96 AD2d 1001.) III. Under New York’s Constitution, the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and, without compelling state interest, deprives citizens of the fundamental right to life and, thereby, of due process and equal protection. (People v P.J. Video, 68 NY2d 296; Gregg v Georgia, 428 US 153; Furman v Georgia, 408 US 238; People v Fitzpatrick, 32 NY2d 499; Woodson v North Carolina, 428 US 280; People v Smith, 63 NY2d 41; Atkins v Virginia, 536 US 304; People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; Roper v Simmons, 543 US 551; People v Isaacson, 44 NY2d 511.) IV Four of John Taylor’s six convictions for first-degree murder—those for commanding Craig Godineaux to kill three victims and for killing Anita Smith himself—were against the weight of the evidence, and the command convictions were not even supported by legally sufficient evidence. (People v Mateo, 2 NY3d 383; People v Couser, 258 AD2d 74, 94 NY2d 631; People v Rayam, 94 NY2d 557; People v Cahill, 2 NY3d 14; People v Ryan, 82 NY2d 497; Jackson v Virginia, 443 US 307; People v Higgins, 5 NY2d 607; People v Crum, 272 NY 348; People v Davis, 43 NY2d 17; People v Blim, 63 NY2d 718.) V Police and prosecutors interrogated John Taylor even after his counsel in a pending robbery case informed them that her representation covered any new arrest, including the Wendy’s matter, and that he should not be questioned. Because Taylor’s right to counsel thereby indelibly attached and a later “waiver” of counsel was obtained outside his lawyer’s presence, his subsequent confessions were wrongly admitted. (People v Lennon, 243 AD2d 495, 91 NY2d 942; Moran v Burbine, 475 US 412; People v West, 81 NY2d 370; People v Donovan, 13 NY2d 148; People v Garofolo, 46 NY2d 592; People v Pinzon, 44 NY2d 458; People v Gunner, 15 NY2d 226; People v Failla, 14 NY2d 178; People v Schaeffer, 56 NY2d 448; People v Byrne, 47 NY2d 117.) VI. Over repeated defense objections and mistrial motions, the court let a prosecution psychologist testify extensively about accomplice Craig Godineaux’s difficult childhood and cognitive impairments. This evidence was irrelevant to determining John Taylor’s conduct or mental state, and a back door to unconfronted hearsay from Godineaux and his relatives. But the prosecutor used it to cast Godineaux as pathetic and comparatively blameless, and to assign the culpability for the killings—including “command” responsibility—to Taylor. (Crawford v Washington, 541 US 36; People v Goldstein, 6 NY3d 119; People v Couser, 94 NY2d 631; People v Cratsley, 86 NY2d 81; Atkins v Virginia, 536 US 304; People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d 371; People v Miller, 39 NY2d 543; People v Marx, 305 AD2d 726; People v Freshley, 87 AD2d 104; People v Primo, 96 NY2d 351.) VII. After convicting Craig Godineaux of murder for intending in advance to kill all the Wendy’s victims, the prosecution argued the opposite at John Taylor’s trial: that Godineaux had no intent to hurt anyone until Taylor killed two victims and told him to shoot the rest. Because the prosecution employed its contradictory theory both to argue that Godineaux must have acted at Taylor’s “command” and to heighten Taylor’s relative culpability at the sentencing hearing, this unethical tactic violated due process, requiring reversal of the command convictions and death sentences. (People v Edwards, 274 AD2d 754; People v Cabey, 85 NY2d 417; People v La Belle, 18 NY2d 405; People v Torres, 153 AD2d 911; People v Godineaux, 2 AD3d 875; People v Couser, 94 NY2d 631; People v Santorelli, 95 NY2d 412; Drake v Kemp, 762 F2d 1449; Smith v Groose, 205 F3d 1045; Thompson v Calderon, 120 F3d 1045.) VIII. In sentencing summation, the prosecutor falsely insinuated that John Taylor’s past involved convictions for crimes of violence. The court had licensed this misconduct when it improperly refused to submit the mitigating factor that Taylor had no history of convictions involving the use of violence, relegating the defense instead to qualifying the mitigator, undeservedly, as one of no “significant” history. (People ex rel. Harris v Sullivan, 74 NY2d 305; People v Duggins, 3 NY3d 522; People v Blair, 90 NY2d 1003; People v Carborano, 301 NY 39.) IX. The court permitted the prosecution to impugn, as manipulative and tantamount to child abuse, John Taylor’s presentation of his children as mitigation witnesses—and then compounded the harm by warning the jury that it was not to consider the pain or sadness the children might feel if Taylor were executed. (Marshall v Hendricks, 307 F3d 36; Burns v Gammon, 260 F3d 892; Penry v Lynaugh, 492 US 302; Washington v Texas, 388 US 14; People v Manganaro, 218 NY 9; People v Robinson, 260 AD2d 508; People v Diaz, 170 AD2d 202, 172 AD2d 341; People v Collins, 140 AD2d 186; People v Calabria, 94 NY2d 519; People v Skinner, 298 AD2d 625.) X. Unchecked by the court, the prosecution impermissibly cast sentencing as a contest between the victims and defendant, centered on their comparative worth and rights. (People v Harris, 98 NY2d 452; People v Miller, 6 NY2d 152; People v Caruso, 246 NY 437; People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; People v Mleczko, 298 NY 153; People v Peller, 291 NY 438; People v Blair, 90 NY2d 1003; Payne v Tennessee, 501 US 808; Humphries v Ozmint, 397 F3d 206; People v Manganaro, 218 NY 9.) XI. The trial court violated John Taylor’s nonwaivable right to a jury of 12 when it substituted an alternate juror for a regular juror after penalty-phase opening arguments. (People v Cosmo, 205 NY 91; People v Page, 88 NY2d 1; People v Ryan, 19 NY2d 100; People v Cahill, 2 NY3d 14; Cancemi v People, 18 NY 128.) XII. The court wrongly refused to consider John Taylor’s unchallenged claim that New York’s lethal-injection procedures create a substantial risk of prolonged and torturous executions and thus constitute cruel and unusual punishment. (Campbell v Wood, 18 F3d 662; Gregg v Georgia, 428 US 153; Oken v Sizer, 321 F Supp 2d 658; Beardslee v Woodford, 395 F3d 1064; Brown v Crawford, 408 F3d 1027, 544 US 1046; Morales v Hickman, 415 F Supp 2d 1037, 438 F3d 926; Fierro v Gomez, 77 F3d 301; Weems v United States, 217 US 349.)
Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens (Gary S. Fidel, John M. Castellano and Donna Aldea of counsel), and New York Prosecutors Training Institute (Susan L. Valle, Debra Whitson and Robert J. Conflitti of counsel), for respondent.
I. The deadlock instruction is neither unconstitutional on its face nor as applied to this case. (People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; Brady v State of New York, 80 NY2d 596; People v Bright, 71 NY2d 376; People v Nebbia, 262 NY 259; People ex rel. Henderson v Board of Supervisors of County of Westchester, 147 NY 1; People v Stuart, 100 NY2d 412; Ulster Home Care v Vacco, 96 NY2d 505; People v Nelson, 69 NY2d 302; National Endowment for Arts v Finley, 524 US 569; Hoffman Estates v Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 US 489.) II. Defendant does not have standing to challenge New York’s death penalty statute on grounds inapplicable to his case; but in any event, the statute must be upheld under the State and Federal Constitutions. (People v Broadie, 37 NY2d 100, 423 US 950; Gregg v Georgia, 428 US 153; People v Hale, 173 Misc 2d 140, revd on other grounds sub nom. Matter of Hynes v Tomei, 237 AD2d 52, 92 NY2d 613, 527 US 1015; People v Kemmler, 119 NY 580; People v Davis, 43 NY2d 17; People v Scalza, 76 NY2d 604; People v Bright, 71 NY2d 376; People v Stuart, 100 NY2d 412; Cohen v State of New York, 94 NY2d 1; McGowan v Burstein, 71 NY2d 729.) III. Defendant was properly found guilty of first-degree murder. The jury’s sentencing determination was proper in light of the nature and circumstances of defendant’s crimes. (People v Cahill, 2 NY3d 14; People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490; People v Cabey, 85 NY2d 417; People v Davis, 43 NY2d 17; People v Crum, 272 NY 348; People ex rel. MacCracken v Miller, 291 NY 55; Tibbs v Florida, 457 US 31; People v Mateo, 2 NY3d 383.) IV The court below properly denied suppression of defendant’s statements because the right to counsel did not attach as a result of the unilateral efforts of an attorney whose representation defendant spontaneously and unequivocally rejected at the first available opportunity. (People v West, 81 NY2d 370; People v Bing, 76 NY2d 331; Faretta v California, 422 US 806; People v Coates, 74 NY2d 244; People v LaClere, 76 NY2d 670; People v Wilson, 89 NY2d 754; People v Garofolo, 46 NY2d 592; People v Gunner, 15 NY2d 226; People v Marrero, 51 NY2d 56; People v Lennon, 243 AD2d 495.) V The trial court properly admitted the testimony of Dr. Martell, and defendant waived any Confrontation Clause challenge to the out-of-court statements that were part of the basis of the expert’s opinion. (Price v New York City Hous. Auth., 92 NY2d 553; People v Cronin, 60 NY2d 430; People v Lee, 96 NY2d 157; People v Wilder, 93 NY2d 352; People v Scarola, 71 NY2d 769; People v Davis, 43 NY2d 17; People v Yazum, 13 NY2d 302; People v Mateo, 2 NY3d 383; People v Rojas, 97 NY2d 32; People v Rivera, 96 NY2d 749.) VI. The prosecutor’s guilt-phase argument at defendant’s trial did not contradict the codefendant’s plea allocution with respect to the overall theory of the prosecution. (People v Santos, 86 NY2d 869; People v Medina, 53 NY2d 951; People v Kelly, 5 NY3d 116; People v Yong Yun Lee, 92 NY2d 987; People v Ahmed, 66 NY2d 307; People v Jackson, 196 NY 357; People v Udzinski, 146 AD2d 245; Wainwright v Sykes, 433 US 72; People v Harris, 98 NY2d 452; People v Emieleta, 238 NY 158.) VII. Defendant’s four claims of guilt-phase error, pertaining to the command counts on which the jury did not sentence defendant to death, have no bearing on the death sentence. (Blystone v Pennsylvania, 494 US 299; Boyde v California, 494 US 370; People v Harris, 177 Misc 2d 378; Brown v Sanders, 546 US 212; Stringer v Black, 503 US 222; Flamer v Delaware, 68 F3d 736; Williams v Calderon, 52 F3d 1465; Hamilton v Mullin, 436 F3d 1181; Chapman v California, 386 US 18; People v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230.) VIII. The prosecutor’s penalty-phase summation and the court’s penalty-phase instructions were both proper. (People v Ashwal, 39 NY2d 105; People v Marks, 6 NY2d 67; People v Halm, 81 NY2d 819; People v Galloway, 54 NY2d 396; People v Brosnan, 32 NY2d 254; Darden v Wainwright, 477 US 168; People v Harris, 98 NY2d 452; People v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230; People v Romero, 7 NY3d 911.) IX. The trial court’s substitution of an alternate juror, upon defendant’s request, after guilt phase deliberations had been completed and prior to deliberations concerning sentencing was proper. (People v Ahmed, 66 NY2d 307; People v Patterson, 39 NY2d 288; People v Webb, 78 NY2d 335; People v Carvajal, 6 NY3d 305; Cancemi v People, 18 NY 128; People v Cosmo, 205 NY 91; People v Tarsia, 50 NY2d 1; United States v Spero, 331 F3d 57; People v Dekle, 56 NY2d 835; People v Degondea, 3 AD3d 148.) X. The trial court correctly rejected defendant’s challenge to lethal injection procedures because the challenge is not ripe. Further, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider the challenge, and defendant has not brought an essential party before the Court. (People v Nieves, 2 NY3d 310; People v Stevens, 91 NY2d 270; Matter of Hynes v Karassik, 47 NY2d 659; People v Hernandez, 93 NY2d 261; Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew v Barwick, 67 NY2d 510, 479 US 985; Matter of New York State Inspection, Sec. & Law Enforcement Empls., Dist. Council 82, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v Cuomo, 64 NY2d 233; Matter of Gordon v Rush, 100 NY2d 236; New York Pub. Interest Research Group v Carey, 42 NY2d 527; People v Arroyo, 178 Misc 2d 653; Cuomo v Long Is. Light. Co., 71 NY2d 349.)
Stephen Greenwald, New York City, for Association of the Bar of the City of New York, amicus curiae.
I. The strict scrutiny standard applies to New York substantive due process claims involving the death penalty. (Town of Orangetown v Magee, 88 NY2d 41; City of Amsterdam v Helsby, 37 NY2d 19; Mark G. v Sabol, 93 NY2d 710; People v Koertge, 182 Misc 2d 183; Furman v Georgia, 408 US 238; People v Adams, 53 NY2d 241; People v P.J. Video, 68 NY2d 296; People v Alvarez, 70 NY2d 375; People v Scott, 79 NY2d 474; Cooper v Morin, 49 NY2d 69.) II. New York’s death penalty statute does not pass the strict scrutiny test, and therefore it violates the Due Process Clause. (People v Smith, 63 NY2d 41; People v Fitzpatrick, 32 NY2d 499; People v Davis, 43 NY2d 17; People v Oliver, 1 NY2d 152; People v Hale, 173 Misc 2d 140; Matter of Westchester County Med. Ctr. [O’Connor], 72 NY2d 517; Furman v Georgia, 408 US 238; Sumner v Shuman, 483 US 66.) III. Other states, international communities and other sources show that New York’s death penalty fails the least restrictive means test and violates due process. (People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88.)
Theodore M. Shaw, New York City, Jacqueline A. Berrien, Deborah Fins, Miriam Gohara and Christina Swarns for NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and others,
amici curiae.
I. Racial bias persists. (People v Cahill, 2 NY3d 14; McCleskey v Kemp, 481 US 279; Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v West Virginia Dept. of Health & Human Resources, 532 US 598; Burlington Industries, Inc. v Ellerth, 524 US 742; National Railroad Passenger Corporation v Morgan, 536 US 101; Proud v Stone, 945 F2d 796; Georgia v McCollum, 505 US 42.) II. The life or death sentencing decision is especially vulnerable to the influence of racial bias. (Walton v Arizona, 497 US 639; Turner v Murray, 476 US 28; Zant v Stephens, 462 US 862; People v Cahill, 2 NY3d 14; Wainwright v Witt, 469 US 412; Miller-El v Dretke, 545 US 231; People v Harris, 98 NY2d 452.) III. The Court should not reinstate the death penalty, given the risk of racial bias in death sentencing and the harm it creates. (Beck v Alabama, 447 US 625; People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; McCleskey v Kemp, 481 US 279; Swain v Alabama, 380 US 202; Miller-El v Dretke, 545 US 231; People v Harris, 98 NY2d 452; J. E. B. v Alabama ex rel. T. B., 511 US 127; Edmonson v Leesville Concrete Co., 500 US 614; Powers v Ohio, 499 US 400.)
Catherine Abate, New York City, for New Jersey Crime Victims’ Law Center, amicus curiae.
The experience of New Jersey’s victims leads inexorably to the conclusion that life without parole is preferable to the death penalty as the sanction for first-degree murder. (People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; People v Cahill, 2 NY3d 14.)
Tobin and Dempf LLP, Albany (Michael L. Costello of counsel), for New York Religious Leaders Against the Death Penalty and others, amici curiae.
I. The views of the religious community are relevant. (Weems v United States, 217 US 349; Trop v Dulles, 356 US 86; Atkins v Virginia, 536 US 304; People v Broadie, 37 NY2d 100; People v Smith, 63 NY2d 41; California v Brown, 479 US 538; Penry v Lynaugh, 492 US 302; Bowen v Kendrick, 487 US 589; Stanford v Kentucky, 492 US 361; Ford v Wainwright, 477 US 399.) II. The death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under New York’s Constitution. (People v Barber, 289 NY 378; People v Alvarez, 70 NY2d 375; People ex rel. Arcara v Cloud Books, 68 NY2d 553; People v Scott, 79 NY2d 474; People v P.J. Video, 68 NY2d 296.) III. Capital punishment violates human dignity and contemporary standards of decency.
Connors & Vilordo, LLP, Buffalo (Terrence M. Connors, Vincent E. Doyle III and Jennifer R. Scharf of counsel); Harrington & Mahoney (James P. Harrington and Mark J. Mahoney of counsel); Hodgson Russ LLP (Joseph V. Sedita of counsel); David Gerald Jay; Personius Melber, LLP (Rodney O. Personius of counsel); Rosenthal, Siegel, Muenkel & Meyers, LLP (Cheryl Meyers Buth of counsel); J. Glenn Davis; LoTempio & Brown, PC. (Patrick J. Brown of counsel); Daniel B. Boeck, Frank Bogulski, Wesley M. Brown, Blasdell, James M. Byrnes, Rochester, E. Carey Cantwell, Buffalo; Law Office of A. Joseph Catalano, Niagara Falls (A. Joseph Catalano of counsel); Law Offices of John Trigilio, Buffalo (Elizabeth J. Ciambrone of counsel); Robert N. Convissar, Paul G. Dell, Thomas C. Farley, Derby, Noemi Fernandez-Hiltz, Buffalo, Philip S. Glickman, Rochester, Robert M. Goldstein, Buffalo, Thomas N. Graziani, Williamsville, Sean Dennis Hill, Buffalo, Alan S. Hoffman, Paul V. Hurley, East Aurora, John Keavey, Buffalo, James E. Kerrigan, Ithaca, Karen A. Korkuk, Buffalo, Judith M. Kubiniec, Amy L. Lupiani, Paul D. MacAulay, Rochester, John C. Putney, Mount Morris, Center for Community Alternatives, Syracuse (Alan Rosenthal of counsel); Timothy A. Roulan, Old Forge, Michael J. Stachowski, Buffalo, Lipsitz, Green, Scime & Cambria, LLP (Michael P. Stuermer of counsel); Michael J. Tallon, Rochester, Donald M. Thompson, Nelson S. Torre, Buffalo; and Zdarsky Sawicki & Agostinelli (Gerald T. Walsh of counsel), for Terrence M. Connors and others amici curiae.
The police violated appellant’s right to counsel under the New York State Constitution by interrogating him after an attorney who represented him on pending charges contacted the police and entered the proceeding as counsel in the matter under investigation. Under this Court’s consistent precedent over four decades, appellant’s purported “waiver” of the right to counsel was ineffective because it was extracted from him in the absence of his attorney. (People v Arthur, 22 NY2d 325; People v Hobson, 39 NY2d 479; People v West, 81 NY2d 370; People v Lennon, 243 AD2d 495; People v Donovan, 13 NY2d 148; People v Grice, 100 NY2d 318.)
Kent S. Scheidegger, Sacramento, California, for Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, amicus curiae.
I. People v LaValle’s (3 NY3d 88 [2004]) conclusory, unsupported decision to throw out the entire death penalty is not entitled to preclusive effect as stare decisis. (Lowenfield v Phelps, 484 US 231; Tuilaepa v California, 512 US 967; Jones v United States, 527 US 373; People v Hobson, 39 NY2d 479; Matter of Hynes v Tomei, 92 NY2d 613; Payne v Tennessee, 501 US 808; Dobbert v Florida, 432 US 282; Cupp v Naughten, 414 US 141; Estelle v McGuire, 502 US 62.) II. The invalid sentence of CPL 400.27 (10) is severable. (Marbury v Madison, 1 Cranch [5 US] 137; People ex rel. Alpha Portland Cement Co. v Knapp, 230 NY 48; Alaska Airlines, Inc. v Brock, 480 US 678; Bank of Hamilton v Lessee of Dudley, 2 Pet [27 US] 492; Matter of New York State Superfund Coalition v New York State Dept. of Envtl. Conservation, 75 NY2d 88; People v Smith, 63 NY2d 41; People v Davis, 43 NY2d 17; Roberts v Louisiana, 431 US 633; United States v Booker, 543 US 220; Matter of Hynes v Tomei, 92 NY2d 613.) III. The New York death penalty statute is constitutional without the invalid sentence. (People v LaValle, 3 NY3d 88; Matter of Hynes v Tomei, 92 NY2d 613; Bullington v Missouri, 451 US 430; Sattazahn v Pennsylvania, 537 US 101; Jones v United States, 527 US 373; People v Smith, 63 NY2d 41; Furman v Georgia, 408 US 238; Woodson v North Carolina, 428 US 280; United States v Harper, 729 F2d 1216; Morgan v Illinois, 504 US 719.)

Opinion:
OPINION OF THE COURT
Ciparick, J.
Three years ago, in People v LaValle (3 NY3d 88 [2004]), we held that the jury deadlock instruction under CPL 400.27 violates our State Constitution. Because a deadlock instruction is both essential to a death penalty statute and necessary to conform with principles of due process, we were compelled to invalidate the entire sentencing portion of the statute. We are now asked to decide whether an earlier attempt by a trial court to minimize the coercive effect of the flawed jury deadlock instruction warrants revisiting the issue of that instruction's constitutionality as applied to the present defendant. We hold that under the doctrine of stare decisis, defendant's death sentence must be vacated and the matter remitted to Supreme Court for resentencing.
I
In May 2000, defendant John Taylor and a coworker, Craig Godineaux, plotted to commit a robbery. Although Godineaux suggested robbing livery cabs, defendant convinced him that they should focus instead on fast-food restaurants as defendant was familiar with them, having previously worked at McDonald's and Wendy's. On the evening of Wednesday May 24, the two met near defendant's home in Queens with a plan to rob a Wendy's restaurant where defendant previously worked as an assistant manager. When the two met, defendant was carrying a roll of duct tape in a black plastic bag, a briefcase "to hold the money" and a loaded .380 semiautomatic handgun, which he had purchased on the street, in his "fanny pack" along with an extra ammunition clip.
Defendant and Godineaux arrived at Wendy's at approximately 10:55 p.m., minutes before closing time. The two ordered food and ate separately. Defendant took a moment to speak with the store manager, Jean Auguste, a former coworker. While eating, defendant "leered" at the two remaining customers. At approximately 11:15 p.m., one of the employees let those customers out of the restaurant and relocked the door. Shortly thereafter, defendant entered the employee area behind the counter and descended the stairs to the basement. Defendant entered the manager's office and pointed a gun at Auguste while demanding all of the money in the safe. Auguste took about $2,400 in bills and coins from the safe and put it in defendant's briefcase and bag, along with that evening's surveillance video. In response to Auguste's pleas, defendant assured him that he would only duct-tape the employees so he could get away. Auguste then got on the intercom and stated "tell everybody to come downstairs, we are having a meeting, it is important." Jaquoine Johnson heard the announcement and led everyone downstairs with Godineaux following. Once all of the employees had descended the stairs, Godineaux ripped a phone cord from a wall near the top of the stairs and joined the others.
Along with Johnson and Auguste, there were five other employees in the store—Anita Smith, Patricio Castro, Jeremy Mele, Ramon Nazario and Ali Ibadat. Defendant ordered them all to lie face down on the floor with their hands behind their backs. In the interim, defendant obtained the key to the restaurant's entrance from one of the employees. Meanwhile, Godineaux donned gloves, which he had brought with him, and with duct tape bound each of the employee's hands and mouth. Auguste, who was having trouble breathing, managed to free his hands and remove the tape from his mouth. In response, Godineaux punched him in the face, yelled at him and retaped his hands and mouth.
Once all of the employees were bound, they were led to the nearby walk-in refrigerator and ordered to their knees. Godineaux then placed clear plastic bags, which defendant had retrieved from another room, over six of the employees' heads, and defendant placed a bag over the remaining employee's head. Johnson, who was able to see through his bag, saw defendant shoot Auguste in the head. After the shot, Smith started screaming "what happened." When another shot was fired, the screaming ceased. Defendant passed the gun to Godineaux and said "finish them." Godineaux, in turn, shot Nazario, Castro, Meli, Ibadat and Johnson—all in their heads and at close range. Following the shooting, defendant and Godineaux went upstairs, unlocked the door, exited the restaurant and relocked the door. Only Castro and Johnson survived. The other five employees all died from gunshot wounds to the head. At some point after defendant and Godineaux left, Castro regained consciousness, got free and called 911 for help using the office fax machine telephone. Defendant and Godineaux eventually parted ways.
Defendant quickly became the focus of a police investigation of the shootings. He was identified, in separate photo arrays, by a person who saw him leaving Wendy's that night and by one of the customers who was present in the restaurant when defendant had arrived. The police also learned that defendant was a former employee who had been fired from this Wendy's location. Upon learning from news reports that the police had identified him as a suspect in the shootings, defendant went to his sister's home in Suffolk County on the morning of May 26. However, the New York City Police Department had already contacted the Suffolk County police, who had agreed to arrange for surveillance of the home.
At around 4:00 p.m. that day, a 911 operator received a call from someone at the sister's house stating that a child was injured while riding a bicycle. The officers, responding to that call, were intercepted and shown a picture of defendant. When the responding officers arrived, they arrested defendant while the medics were treating the child. The police found the loaded .380 handgun that defendant used at Wendy's along with an extra clip in the "fanny pack" he was wearing. Inside his sister's home, the police also found defendant's suitcase which contained some of the clothing he wore during the shootings, the surveillance tape, approximately $1,500 in cash and one live .380 round.
Thereafter, three New York City police officers drove defendant to a detective squad in Queens. As defendant was placed in the car, he said "please get Craig. He's at SC&R right now. He's security just like me at 165th and Jamaica Avenue, you know, the coliseum." The officers tried to calm defendant, but he continued to blurt out comments about how his life was in jeopardy because he was the only one who saw Craig shoot everyone at Wendy's. Defendant was then advised of his Miranda rights but he continued "rambling on" about Craig. The police continued to assure defendant that he would be heard in full when they arrived at the precinct, and after about 10 minutes he stopped talking.
At the precinct, defendant was again read his Miranda rights in the interview room and at 6:15 p.m., then-Detective Elizabeth Curcio began to interview him. The interview lasted just over one hour. During this time defendant made an oral statement and agreed to execute a written statement if Curcio drafted it for him. Curcio drafted an 11-page statement over the course of the next three hours. The statement was signed by Curcio and defendant. According to defendant's statements, Godineaux did not see the gun until he saw defendant with it in the basement. At that point, Godineaux grabbed the gun from defendant and shot Auguste while saying "[n]o witnesses" and screaming to defendant to give him the other clip. Defendant stated that he walked away and heard about nine shots.
At around midnight, defendant agreed to make a videotaped statement. While several assistant district attorneys questioned defendant during his video statement—which essentially mirrored his statements to Curcio—various detectives investigated the inconsistencies and gaps in defendant's confession. Most glaring was defendant's claim that Godineaux knew that there was an extra magazine with ammunition despite the fact that there was no indication that defendant ever mentioned it to him. In response to the questioning regarding this discrepancy, defendant admitted orally, and later in writing, that he shot Auguste and then gave Godineaux the gun and told him to "finish them."
Defendant was tried by a jury and convicted of 20 counts—six for first-degree murder under various theories including intentional felony murder, multiple-victim murder and command murder. After a sentencing phase trial during which defendant proffered his mitigating evidence, the jury returned a verdict in favor of death on three first-degree murder counts— count eight—as part of the same criminal transaction, defendant caused the deaths of more than one person (see Penal Law § 125.27 [1] [a] [viii]); count fourteen—in the course of a robbery, defendant killed Jean Auguste (see Penal Law § 125.27 [1] [a] [vii]); and count fifteen—in the course of a robbery, defendant killed Anita Smith (see Penal Law § 125.27 [1] [a] [vii]). Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence as of right under CPL 450.70 (1).
II
On March 20, 2002, prior to jury selection, defendant moved for an order declaring the deadlock jury instruction under CPL 400.27 (10) unconstitutional and nonseverable. Defendant argued that the provision "injects arbitrariness into the sentencing proceeding and unconstitutionally coerces jurors into giving up their conscientiously held sentencing determinations in order to return a verdict and avoid the possibility of parole after as few as twenty years." Supreme Court, denying the motion in all respects, found that defendant was unable to surmount the statute's strong presumption of constitutionality.
After Supreme Court determined that the deadlock provision was constitutional, defense counsel asked for a jury instruction that defendant would never be released from jail. At the end of the penalty phase, the defense again requested that the judge tell the jury that he was "going to give [defendant] 175 years and there is no practical ] possibility of getting out of jail." The judge responded:
"And, therefore, they might as well, if they can't agree on death, give him life without parole.
"The statute, the statute requires me not to, does not require me to say what I'm going to say. It requires only for me to tell them 20 to 25 years to life as to sentence. That is all it requires. What I am doing is something more. . . .
"I decline to assure them and give them a guarantee today of what I will do in the future and you have your objection."
On November 25, 2002, the court charged the jury, in part:
"Now, any decision by you to impose a sentence, whether of death or of life imprisonment without parole, would have to be unanimous. In other words, each juror would have to agree to it.
"I am required to tell you that the law provides that in the event the jury fails to reach unanimous agreement with respect to the sentence, then I must sentence the defendant myself.
"And the law provides that if I sentence the defendant, I must sentence him to life imprisonment, but I must also fix a point at which the defendant will become eligible for parole.
"Under the law I must fix that point between twenty and twenty-five years for each count. In other words, on each count I would sentence the defendant to life imprisonment and order that he not become eligible for parole until he has served the minimum term that I fix, a term of between twenty and twenty-five years for each count.
"I think it is fair to tell you, however, that the six [count] s of first degree murder, and the two counts of first degree attempted murder on which you have convicted the defendant, are precisely the type of crimes that almost always induce a judge to give the maximum sentence permissible.
"In this case I would have the authority to sentence the defendant, not only to the maximum on each count, but also to make those sentences run consecutively. So, the maximum sentence I could give and would almost certainly impose in this case, would be a sentence of 175 years to life, which means that the defendant would become eligible for parole, but only after he had served 175 years in jail."
Defendant now argues, in light of this Court's declaration in People v LaValle (3 NY3d 88 [2004]) that CPL 400.27 (10)'s deadlock jury instruction is unconstitutional, his death sentence must be vacated. We agree that LaValle is controlling and mandates defendant's resentencing.
Ill
The deadlock jury instruction of our death penalty statute, CPL 400.27 (10), provides in relevant part:
"In its charge, the court must instruct the jury that with respect to each count of murder in the first degree the jury should consider whether or not a sentence of death should be imposed and whether or not a sentence of life imprisonment without parole should be imposed, and that the jury must be unanimous with respect to either sentence. The court must also instruct the jury that in the event the jury fails to reach unanimous agreement with respect to the sentence, the court will sentence the defendant to a term of imprisonment with a minimum term of between twenty and twenty-five years and a maximum term of life."
New York's death penalty statute, in its present form, was enacted in 1995 (see L 1995, ch 1). The coerciveness and constitutionality of its anticipatory deadlock jury instruction was questioned from its inception. Supreme Court in People v Harris ruled that CPL 400.27 (10) was unconstitutional and refused to charge it at the sentencing trial (see 177 Misc 2d 160, 164 [Sup Ct, Kings County 1998]). On appeal to this Court, defendant argued that Supreme Court had erred by severing the unconstitutional part of the statute. He further argued that the court compounded that error by simply responding "No" to a question by the jury that asked: "If the jury does not come to a unanimous verdict . . . does the penalty become life imprisonment without the possibility of parole?" However, we did not reach the issue in Harris as Matter of Hynes v Tomei (92 NY2d 613 [1998], cert denied 527 US 1015 [1999]) required vacating defendant's death sentence (see People v Harris, 98 NY2d 452, 496 [2002]).
The jury deadlock instruction was again challenged in People v Cahill (2 NY3d 14 [2003]), where the defendant argued that the instruction coerced jurors to vote for death because that was more palatable than the possibility that he would be paroled if they could not come to a unanimous agreement and had to leave sentencing in the hands of the judge. The defendant further argued that CPL 400.27 (10) could not be excised from the death penalty statute, because that would result in a sentencing scheme that was not foreseen by the Legislature—in essence, an impermissible form of judicial legislation. The majority did not reach the constitutional challenge because Cahill's two first-degree murder convictions were against the weight of the evidence and legally insufficient to support a conviction, respectively. Thus, death should not have been an option.
Two Judges of the Court in a concurring opinion in Cahill opined that, because of the gravity of the argument and the Court's constitutional obligation to review capital cases, we were required to address the coerciveness of CPL 400.27 (10)'s jury instruction and the impact it had on reliable sentencing (see Cahill, 2 NY3d at 76-77 [G.B. Smith, J., concurring]). Upon consideration of the deadlock issue, the concurring opinion ultimately concluded that the statute failed because "[i]t introduces a measure of uncertainty and unreliability into the deliberative process. Thus, there is a substantial risk that the jury verdict may not reflect the true conscience of the jury. As a constitutional matter, such a result cannot be countenanced in a capital case" (2 NY3d at 83 [G.B. Smith, J., concurring]).
Months later, the issue again came before the Court in LaValle where we were faced with an otherwise valid death-eligible conviction. Defendant in that case challenged CPL 400.27 (10), "both on its face and as applied," on federal and state constitutional grounds (LaValle, 3 NY3d at 116). The majority opinion analyzed the deadlock jury instruction's constitutional flaws. We first acknowledged that New York's jury deadlock instruction was unique in that "[n]o other death penalty scheme in the country requires judges to instruct jurors that if they cannot unanimously agree between two choices, the judge will sentence defendant to a third, more lenient, choice" (id. at 117). We then explored the inherent coerciveness of placing the jury in that position. We looked to various studies, including a South Carolina study of jurors who served in capital cases, which " 'confronted] that jurors' deliberations emphasize dangerousness and that misguided fears of early release generate death sentences' " (id., quoting Eisenberg and Wells, Deadly Confusion: Juror Instructions in Capital Cases, 79 Cornell L Rev 1, 4 [Nov. 1993]). We further noted that whether or not the unseemly jury instruction tended to sway a juror to vote for life without parole rather than death, the "truth is that the deadlock provision is unconstitutional because of the risk that it might coerce jurors into giving up their conscientious beliefs in order to reach a verdict. This risk deprives defendants of the well-established right to a fair trial under our case law and the State Constitution" (LaValle, 3 NY3d at 120 n 15).
"By interjecting future dangerousness, the deadlock instruction gives rise to an unconstitutionally palpable risk that one or more jurors who cannot bear the thought that a defendant may walk the streets again . . . will join jurors favoring death in order to avoid the deadlock sentence . . . The choice of death results not through 'a comparison of views, and by arguments among the jurors themselves,' but through fear and coercion." (Id. at 118.)
Thus, based on our own precedent, "a coerced verdict 'ought not be allowed to stand in any case, and least of all, in one involving a human life' " (id. at 124, quoting People v Sheldon, 156 NY 268, 285 [1898]).
Nor were we convinced that the United States Supreme Court's reasoning in Jones v United States (527 US 373 [1999]) mandated a different result. Although the Jones Court held that "the Eighth Amendment does not require that the jurors be instructed as to the consequences of their failure to agree" (527 US at 381), we held that our State Due Process Clause's greater protection could not be reconciled with Jones as "death is qualitatively different and thus subject to a heightened standard of reliability" (LaValle, 3 NY3d at 127). This heightened standard could not be satisfied if there is a plausible possibility that jurors would base their life or death determination upon the fear that the defendant would be eventually released from prison (see 3 NY3d at 128). Thus, because our Due Process Clause requires that an anticipatory deadlock instruction be given to the jury and because the existing instruction provided by the Legislature was coercive, we struck the death penalty sentencing statute (see id. at 128-131).
Furthermore, we were not persuaded that the jury deadlock provision could be severed as our Due Process Clause requires that jurors be informed of the consequences of their actions (see LaValle, 3 NY3d at 130). This is because the penalty of death is entirely too severe to allow a jury to vote on the imposition of such a sentence without knowledge of what would occur if it failed to reach unanimity (see id.). Finally, we explicitly stated that:
"We cannot, however, ourselves craft a new instruction, because to do so would usurp legislative prerogative. We have the power to eliminate an unconstitutional sentencing procedure, but we do not have the power to fill the void with a different procedure, particularly one that potentially imposes a greater sentence than the possible deadlock sentence that has been prescribed . . . We thus conclude that under the present statute, the death penalty may not be imposed. Cases in which death notices have been filed may go forward as noncapital first degree murder prosecutions" (id. at 131 [emphasis added]);*
IV
LaValle made perfectly clear that the death penalty sentencing statute crafted by the Legislature was unconstitutional. That judgment stemmed from LaValle's core holdings that our Due Process Clause requires an anticipatory deadlock instruction be given and that the existing provision was unconstitution ally coercive (see 3 NY3d at 120, 130). Since we could not craft a new instruction, we were constrained to say: "under the present statute, the death penalty may not be imposed" (id. at 131). Defendant, here, was thus sentenced to death under a facially unconstitutional statute.
Our decision here is guided, first and foremost, by the principle of stare decisis. It is well settled that "[s]tare decisis is the preferred course because it promotes the evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles, fosters reliance on judicial decisions, and contributes to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process" (Payne v Tennessee, 501 US 808, 827 [1991]). "The doctrine also rests upon the principle that a court is an institution, not merely a collection of individuals, and that governing rules of law do not change merely because the personnel of the court changes" (People v Bing, 76 NY2d 331, 338 [1990]).
"Distinctions in the application and withholding of stare decisis require a nice delicacy and judicial self-restraint. At the root of the techniques must be a humbling assumption, often true, that no particular court as it is then constituted possesses a wisdom surpassing that of its predecessors. Without this assumption there is jurisprudential anarchy" (see People v Hobson, 39 NY2d 479, 488 [1976]).
Hence, both the legitimacy and the ability of the judiciary to function dictate that legal issues that have been addressed by a jurisdiction should not be revisited every time they arise.
Stare decisis is deeply rooted in the precept that we are bound by a rule of law—not the personalities that interpret the law. Thus, the closeness of a vote bears no weight as to a holding's precedential value as a "controversy settled by a decision in which a majority concur should not be renewed without sound reasons" (Semanchuck v Fifth Ave. & 37th St. Corp., 290 NY 412, 420 [1943]). "[0]rdinarily the rule so established will be adopted in all subsequent cases to which it is applicable, without any reconsideration of its correctness in point of law" (Henry Campbell Black, Law of Judicial Precedents, at 182 [1912]). The fact that reasonable minds may differ as to the result does not diminish the majority opinion's legal force.
Stare decisis, of course, also recognizes that the lessons of time may lead to a different result. Thus, the strong presumption that the law is settled by a particular ruling may be rebutted, but only in exceptional cases. For instance, a holding that leads to an unworkable rule, or that creates more questions than it resolves, may ultimately be better served by a new rule (see e.g. Bing, 76 NY2d at 347 ["Inasmuch as these appeals fall squarely within (our precedent) and exceptions cannot be recognized, the question remains whether the rule has become so unworkable that it should be abandoned"]). However, our holding in LaValle—barely three years old—does not present such a rule. Instead, it spells out that death penalty cases can only go forward "as noncapital first degree murder prosecutions" until the Legislature enacts a noncoercive sentencing statute that properly informs the jury of the consequences of its actions (3 NY3d at 131).
Furthermore, although it is oft-stated that a court should "not . . . apply stare decisis as rigidly in constitutional as in nonconstitutional cases" (Glidden Co. v Zdanok, 370 US 530, 543 [1962]), such considerations are not warranted here. The rationale underlying the judiciary being more susceptible to revisiting precedent on constitutional issues is that the Legislature cannot change the constitution to correct an error found by a court. This is in stark contrast to the power the Legislature has to correct a statute and make its meaning clear, if it believes a court's interpretation was wrong. We are not presented with such a situation here as our constitutional ruling on CPL 400.27 (10) does not render the statute immune from legislative correction. Indeed, the needed correction may be as simple as enacting a sentencing statute that provides for life without parole if the jury cannot unanimously agree on death. Thus, as we did in LaValle, we will continue to respect the Legislature's province.
V
Perhaps mindful of the burden it faces in overturning such recent precedent, the People tweak their argument by conceding that LaValle was correctly decided as an as-applied constitutional challenge but that anything further was either plain error or dictum. In support of this position, the People and the dissent misinterpret our constitutional jurisprudence by invoking People v Stuart (100 NY2d 412 [2003]) in an attempt to undermine LaValle's holding. As Stuart has no application here, we reject that argument.
In addressing an as-applied and facial challenge to an anti-stalking statute on void-for-vagueness grounds, we explained in Stuart that:
"Because facial challenges to statutes are generally disfavored and legislative enactments carry a strong presumption of constitutionality, a court's task when presented with both a facial and as-applied argument is first to decide whether the assailed statute is impermissibly vague as applied to the defendant. If it is not and the statute provides the defendant with adequate notice and the police with clear criteria, that is the end of the matter . . .
"It follows, therefore, that if a defendant makes an as-applied vagueness challenge and the court repudiates it, the facial validity of the statute is confirmed" (100 NY2d at 422 [citations omitted]).
In support of this principle, we cited to several void-for-vagueness cases that shared this analysis (see Ulster Home Care v Vacco, 96 NY2d 505, 510 [2001] ["Plaintiffs should have been required to show that the regulation was unconstitutional as applied to them. When a person's conduct falls within the proscriptions of a regulation, £a vagueness challenge must be addressed to the facts before the court' " (citations omitted)]; People v Nelson, 69 NY2d 302, 308 [1987] ["It has often been said, however, that, except in rare circumstances not relevant here, a vagueness challenge must be addressed to the facts before the court . . . Thus, if the actions of the defendants are plainly within the ambit of the statute, the court will not strain to imagine marginal situations in which the application of the statute is not so clear"]; Hoffman Estates v Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 US 489, 495 [1982] ["A plaintiff who engages in some conduct that is clearly proscribed cannot complain of the vagueness of the law as applied to the conduct of others. A court should therefore examine the complainant's conduct before analyzing other hypothetical applications of the law"]).
Here, however, we are faced neither with a void-for-vagueness challenge nor with a constitutional challenge that is subject to the same confluence of concerns. When reviewing a void-for-vagueness challenge of a statute, a court must weigh the need for adequate notice against society's need for order and effective law enforcement (see generally Stuart, 100 NY2d at 420-421; People v Shack, 86 NY2d 529, 538-539 [1995]). Thus, when a person of ordinary intelligence should know that the conduct at issue is prohibited by a statute, and there are reasonable standards for enforcement, that person should not benefit from any superfluous discrepancy that is not applicable in that instance. This is in stark contrast with LaValle, where we were faced with a completely different set of concerns addressed to a defendant's right to a fair trial and the critical task of safeguarding fairness in death sentencing.
The concerns in LaValle focused on whether defendant was deprived of due process and his right to a fair trial in a capital proceeding by the coercive forces that were found to be masked in the language of CPL 400.27 (10). We deemed it necessary, regardless of a showing of actual prejudice, "to strike down the deadlock instruction in CPL 400.27 (10) because it creates the substantial risk of coercing jurors into sentencing a defendant to death in violation of our Due Process Clause" (LaValle, 3 NY3d at 128; see also id. at 120 n 15 ["(T)he deadlock provision is unconstitutional because of the risk that it might coerce jurors into giving up their conscientious beliefs in order to reach a verdict. This risk deprives defendants of the well-established right to a fair trial under our case law and the State Constitution"]).
We find fault in the dissent's view that United States v Salerno (481 US 739 [1987]) dictated a different result in LaValle—a contention never even raised in that case. Salerno's proposition that to be successful "[a] facial challenge . . . must establish that no set of circumstances exists under which the Act would be valid" does not sit well with our state due process protections afforded to capital proceedings under these circumstances (Salerno, 481 US at 745). In a capital appeal, the unacceptability of error and the need to protect liberties become glaringly apparent and call for heightened review (see Harris, 98 NY2d at 474 ["By its very nature a capital case requires the most meticulous and thoughtful attention. A mistake discovered years later may not be correctable"]). As such, neither Salerno nor Stuart adequately addresses a challenge that the capital sentencing procedure is inherently coercive and undermines proper consideration of mitigating and aggravating factors. Thus, it was not error for us to review the facial challenge of CPL 400.27 (10) in LaValle. Nor is there any sound reason in law for us to now rewrite history and recategorize our holding as dictum, as the People and dissent urge.
Moreover, we cannot agree with the dissent that, under the guise of dictum, "self-correction" is mandated or even warranted (see dissenting op at 165), because doing so would condone a trial court's remaking of an unconstitutional statute into a new statute not subject to the legislative process. Surely, it was within our role to otherwise prevent the enforcement of an unconstitutional death penalty statute, as we did in LaValle, until the Legislature chooses to respond. To deem the courts bereft of such a power would undermine our system of checks and balances between our two coequal branches of government.
The People argue, further, that we erred in LaValle by not severing or repairing the flawed statute. As previously discussed, the idea of a jury instruction that fails to properly inform the jury of the consequences of its actions is offensive to our notion of due process (see LaValle, 3 NY3d at 128 ["the absence of an instruction would lead to death sentences that are based on speculation, as the Legislature apparently feared when it decided to prescribe the instruction"]). Thus, given our holding and our responsibility of safeguarding those rights afforded under our State Constitution, we were duty-bound to invalidate the sentencing statute (id. at 130 ["(R)ecognizing the gravity of capital punishment and the concomitant need for greater certainty in the outcome of capital jury sentences, we hold that providing no deadlock instruction in the course of capital sentencing violates our Due Process Clause. Our conclusion is buttressed by the clear legislative intent that there be a jury instruction on the consequences of a deadlock"]). Conscious of our limited role, we refused to "usurp legislative prerogative" and craft a new statute (id. at 131 ["We have the power to eliminate an unconstitutional sentencing procedure, but we do not have the power to fill the void with a different procedure, particularly one that potentially imposes a greater sentence than the possible deadlock sentence that has been prescribed"]).
Furthermore, comparing LaValle with Matter of Hynes, where severability was proper, offers an insightful contrast. In Matter of Hynes we severed an unconstitutional portion of the death penalty statute that penalized those who exercised their right to trial (see 92 NY2d at 628-629). Under the existing statute, a death-noticed defendant was permitted to plead guilty to first-degree murder and avoid the possibility of a death sentence. Thus, death could only be imposed on those who insisted on their innocence (see id. at 620). We determined that the offending part of the statute could be severed as it did not affect the conduct during the trial or penalty phase and that it still permitted plea bargaining (see id. at 628, 630 ["Thus, while a defendant may not plead guilty to first degree murder while a notice of intent to seek the death penalty is pending, plea bargaining to lesser offenses even when a notice of intent is pending, or to first degree murder in the absence of a notice of intent, remains unaffected"]). In LaValle, on the other hand, the invalid portion of the statute was inextricably interwoven with the sentencing procedure and necessary to effectuate the Legislature's intent. As correctly recognized in the concurring opinion, any attempt to sever the offending portion of the statute would result in a "misshapen fragment of the original" drafted by a court's impermissible use of a legislative pen (concurring op at 158).
Finally, we reject the People's invitation to rewrite the deadlock instruction. This is because, under the proposed scheme, we would be obliged to materially rework the death penalty statute in a manner contrary to our role. In order to function, as proposed by the People and the dissent, a trial court would be required to inform the jury in advance the sentence it would likely impose in the event of a deadlock. To do so under the present statute would require the court to act without the benefit of a presentencing report in violation of CPL 380.30 and 390.20. Additionally, the new framework would be repugnant to the Legislature's intent as the court would have to conduct some sort of actuarial analysis and health assessment to determine a defendant's expected longevity as well as a thorough examination of the existence of convictions that may require consecutive sentencing. We would ultimately be left with capital punishment only for the aged, frail and those convicted of crimes eligible for consecutive sentencing—an entirely new capital punishment statute (cf. McMinn v Town of Oyster Bay, 66 NY2d 544, 552-553 [1985, Kaye, J., concurring] ["(A) party may challenge the validity of a statute on its face by asserting the rights of others if individual applications cannot be meaningfully separated from one another" (citation omitted)]; Association of Surrogates & Supreme Ct. Reporters Within City of N.Y. v State of New York, 79 NY2d 39 [1992] [An unconstitutional statute should not be severed if its only application would be for a small subset of the original class]).
VI
Like LaValle, our holding here is grounded in the irrevokable nature of capital punishment as well as "the concomitant need for greater certainty in the outcome of capital jury sentences" (3 NY3d at 130). We do not agree that the Court erred in LaValle, or that our holdings were dicta, and thus we are ultimately left exactly where we were three years ago: the death penalty sentencing statute is unconstitutional on its face and it is not within our power to save the statute. LaValle is thus entitled to full precedential value. The Legislature, mindful of our State's due process protections, may reenact a sentencing statute that is free of coercion and cognizant of a jury's need to know the consequences of its choice.
Accordingly, the judgment of Supreme Court should be modified by vacating the sentence of death and remitting to that court for resentencing in accordance with CPL 470.30 (5) (c) and Penal Law § 60.06 and 70.00 and, as so modified, affirmed.
. Godineaux taped six of the employees and defendant taped the remaining one, Castro. In addition to taping Castro's hands and mouth, defendant also taped his eyes.
. The testimony of Castro and Johnson differed only slightly at trial as to whether Smith was killed by the second or third shot.
Castro testified that he saw defendant in the restaurant and witnessed him go downstairs to the office. When Castro went downstairs with the others, his eyes, mouth and hands were taped. After he was brought into the refrigerator, he heard two quick shots. He then heard a woman scream which ceased upon a third shot. After hearing a fourth shot, he passed out not realizing he had been shot.
Johnson testified that he remembered everything upon regaining consciousness but that he initially claimed he had no recollection because he did not want to talk about it. He further testified that he remembered seeing defendant and Godineaux walk into the restaurant and order separately. Later, after being called to the basement, he saw defendant with a gun and was ordered to the floor. His eyes were not taped so he was able to see Auguste break free and Godineaux hit him in response. Although a bag was then placed over Johnson's head, it did not cover his right eye. He was thus able to see defen dant shoot Auguste, hear Smith scream and hear another shot followed by silence. He then witnessed defendant pass the gun to Godineaux.
. Mele also had a gunshot wound to his torso—the only person with two gunshot wounds. Thus the total number of wounds—seven head wounds plus one torso wound—corresponds with the eight discharged .380 shells that were found at the scene.
. Defendant, with counsel present, was also later identified in a lineup at the precinct by two witnesses—the customer who identified his photo and Castro.
. Additionally, at some point on May 26, a fingerprint found on the box of plastic bags in the storage room was linked to defendant.
. Defendant and Godineaux had only known each other for about a month before the shootings and defendant only knew his first name, Craig.
Godineaux was arrested at work shortly after defendant. Due to Godineaux's mental retardation, the District Attorney's Office did not file a death notice against him and he was subsequently allowed to enter a plea in which he would be sentenced to life without parole for his role in the murders.
. The police were contacted by an attorney claiming she represented defendant in a prior matter. Defendant disavowed that he wanted her representation in the instant matter and the investigation ensued after he signed a waiver of counsel. At defendant's request, his claim that his right to counsel was violated is being abandoned.
. Defendant was originally indicted on June 27, 2000, under Queens County indictment No. 1845/2000, for numerous crimes including 21 counts of first-degree murder based on theories of intentional felony murder and multiple-victim murder. On April 10, 2001, a second indictment was filed, under indictment No. 1012/2001, charging defendant with intentional felony murders under a command theory as well as attempted intentional felony murder of the two surviving victims. The indictments were consolidated by court order dated March 27, 2002.
. The jury was not unanimous in seeking death or life without parole on counts sixteen through eighteen, which convicted defendant of first-degree felony murder for commanding the killing of Nazario, Ibadat and Mele in the course of a robbery. He later received consecutive sentences of 25 years to life on each of those counts.
. As it has routinely been observed:
"The historical differences between the Federal and State due process clauses make clear that they were adopted to combat entirely different evils . . . The Fourteenth Amendment was a watershed—an attempt to extend and catalogue a series of national privileges and immunities, thereby furnishing minimum standards designed to guarantee the individual protection against the potential abuses of a monolithic government... In contrast, State Constitutions in general, and the New York Constitution in particular, have long safeguarded any threat to individual liberties, irrespective of from what quarter that peril arose" (Sharrock v Dell Buick-Cadillac, 45 NY2d 152, 160 [1978] [citations omitted]).
. In apparent reliance on LaValle, no District Attorney has since filed a death notice in our state. Thus, the holding has not engendered uncertainty, or proven unworkable in application (see People v Bing, 76 NY2d 331, 347-348 [1990]).
. We recognize that the sentencing phase below took place before our decision in LaValle and that the trial judge diligently tried to balance the weighty constitutional quandaries in crafting the jury instruction. However, as the statute was ultimately held facially unconstitutional, there is no room for a judicial reformulation of the deadlock provision, nor is there any basis to review whether the instruction here was in fact coercive.
. "Stare decisis et non quieta movere" is a Latin phrase that means "[t]o stand by things decided, and not to disturb settled points" (Black's Law Dictionary 1443 [8th ed 2004]).
. In Bing, after nearly a decade, we overruled People v Bartolomeo (53 NY2d 225 [1981]), a case that stood for the proposition that when a suspect was arrested, the police were charged with the knowledge of whether the suspect was previously represented by counsel in prior matters, preventing the suspect from waiving his or her right to counsel without the prior counsel present. The Bartolomeo rule, which rested on a "fictional attorney-client relationship," was shrouded in uncertainty and detrimental to effective law enforcement (Bing, 76 NY2d at 349, 347-351).
. The People's argument here is contrary to the position that was taken by the People in LaValle. The People in LaValle urged the Court only to consider the facial challenge as they believed the as-applied challenge was unpreserved.
. Notably, there is not a single reference to Stuart in any of the three opinions issued in LaValle. Indeed, even Judge Rosenblatt, who authored Stuart and wrote separately in LaValle, did not mention that case.
. The People in LaValle cited to the trial court's ruling in this case as an indication of the constitutionality of CPL 400.27 (10)—an argument that was implicitly rejected by LaValle's holding.
. We also find perplexing the dissent's position that our analysis here should be the same as that employed in tax cases (see dissenting op at 167, citing Matter of Moran Towing Corp. v Urbach, 99 NY2d 443, 448 [2003]).
. Furthermore, even if we were to agree with the People that Stuart applies here, certainly the lofty concerns surrounding capital appeals would place this as an exception to the general rule of performing as-applied challenges first (see Stuart, 100 NY2d at 424 n 10 ["we cannot agree that the Court's approach forecloses the possibility of successful facial challenges in the future"]). After all,
"the penalty of death is qualitatively different from a sentence of imprisonment, however long. Death, in its finality, differs more from life imprisonment than a 100-year prison term differs from one of only a year or two. Because of that qualitative difference, there is a corresponding difference in the need for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case" (Woodson v North Carolina, 428 US 280, 305 [1976]).
. The dissent's academic assessment of LaValle's core holdings as dicta glosses over its bases which are that CPL 400.27 (10) is unconstitutionally coercive, that a deadlock jury instruction is constitutionally necessary under state due process standards and that we are obligated to review capital cases with heightened scrutiny. Furthermore, the dissent places far too much emphasis on LaValle's failure to accentuate the word "facial" in its holding. "The careful reader" (dissenting op at 175) can easily discern that LaValle was a facial ruling—to be certain, it is utmost apparent in its analysis, holding and decretal paragraph.
. However, we did ultimately vacate all death sentences resulting from trials that occurred while the offending plea provision was still in effect (see Harris, 98 NY2d at 496; People v Mateo, 2 NY3d 383, 399 [2004], cert denied 542 US 946 [2004]; People v Shulman, 6 NY3d 1, 17 [2005]).
. The charge actually given here injects new concerns of non-neutrality by permitting the trial court to give its opinion as to the weight of the mitigating evidence. The trial court's declaration that these were "precisely the type of crimes that almost always induce a judge to give the maximum sentence permissible" and that the court "would almost certainly impose" a sentence of 175 years to life could be interpreted by a juror to mean that just as the judge sees no reason for leniency nor should the jury give weight to the mitigating factors and that it too should give the maximum sentence permissible—death.
. To be clear, the repugnant notion is not that of a court being confronted with actuarial data (see dissenting op at 173-174). Rather it is placing the court in a position in which it must in each case determine if a defendant is close enough to the end of life before the jury can be instructed on capital sentencing. Not a scintilla of legislative history supports such a paradigm.
. The dissent contends that the statute would only "appl[y] to a core group of defendants [those subject to consecutive sentencing] charged with the worst crimes," a notion unoffensive to legislative intent (dissenting op at 171). This is simply false as the statute's application would also encompass aberrational groups of defendants like the aged and terminally ill. Further, the dissent wrongly assumes that those subject to consecutive sentencing are always the ones who commit the "worst of the worst" crimes (dissenting op at 169) as various multiple murders are not subject to consecutive sentencing (see e.g. People v Rosas, 8 NY3d 493, 498 [2007] [consecutive sentences not appropriate for double murder during the same transaction]; Penal Law § 125.27 [1] [a] [xi] [the serial killer provision is considered a single crime despite involving multiple murders]).
. Defendant has requested without objection from the People that other issues not be reviewed if the Court vacates his death sentence based on LaValle.