Opinion ID: 1175284
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mandatory Death Penalty

Text: A.R.S. § 13-703(E) states: [T]he court shall take into account the aggravating and mitigating circumstances ... and shall impose a sentence of death if the court finds one or more of the aggravating circumstances enumerated in subsection F of this section and that there are no mitigating circumstances sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. (Emphasis added). Defendant argues that because of the words shall impose the statute prohibits individualized sentencing and operates as a mandatory death penalty statute in violation of Roberts v. Louisiana, 431 U.S. 633, 97 S.Ct. 1993, 52 L.Ed.2d 637 (1977). We do not agree. In Roberts, a Louisiana statute mandated the death penalty for any person convicted of the first degree murder of a police officer, regardless of the defendant's character and record or the circumstances of the particular offense. Roberts, 431 U.S. at 634, 97 S.Ct. at 1994. The Court held it was unconstitutional to presume that no mitigating circumstances sufficient to call for leniency existed whenever the victim was a police officer. Id. at 636-37, 97 S.Ct. at 1995. Our statute is different from the Louisiana statute because it requires the trial judge to consider the evidence presented in mitigation including the defendant's character and record, and the circumstances of the offense. The death penalty is mandatory only after the judge has considered the evidence presented in mitigation and determined that no mitigating factors sufficient to call for leniency exist. We do not believe the Arizona death penalty statute constitutes an improper mandatory sentencing procedure. State v. Smith, 146 Ariz. 491, 500, 707 P.2d 289, 298 (1985); State v. Jordan, 137 Ariz. 504, 508, 672 P.2d 169, 173 (1983).