Nevada judges may impose the death penalty for a first-degree murder conviction only if:nnthe court finds there is at least one aggravating circumstance (such as that the defendant tortured the victim before killing him/her), andnthe aggravating circumstances outweigh all the mitigating circumstances (such as that the defendant was abused as a child)nnIn short, only first-degree murder qualifies as "capital murder." And the court is required to impose the death penalty only if it finds the defendant more deserving of punishment than mercy.