Opinion ID: 1312718
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Circumstance (10): Any other Circumstances Arising from the Evidence

Text: Defendant contends that there are several items of evidence which a juror could find existed and had mitigating value. Some of these items bear no nexus to the case, and the remainder were subsumed in the mitigating circumstances actually submitted. None of these items were argued to the jury at the sentencing hearing as being mitigating. 1. Honorable Discharge: Defendant was disciplined in the military for drug abuse, took drugs during the rehabilitation program, and was discharged from the military when he was again tested and found to be positive for drugs. Defendant received a Chapter 8 discharge, which was a discharge under honorable conditions except for drug and alcohol abuse. This simply does not rise to the level of evidence of an honorable discharge. No reasonable juror could find this type of discharge to be a mitigating circumstance. 2. GED: The fact that defendant completed his GED while in prison is subsumed in the mitigating circumstance that defendant adapted well to life in custody, which the jury found. 3. Good Family Man: Defendant was a drug abuser from the age of fourteen. The evidence shows that defendant was a problem to his parents because of his drug abuse, to the point that his father and the police chief talked him into going into the military at age seventeen and a half. When he married his wife, he was spending $40.00 a week on drugs. At the time of the murder, he was spending $45.00 a week on drugs while earning $105.00 a week at his job. His family's needs were not met because of his drug use. There was no evidence that defendant treated his family well and no evidence from which a juror could find this circumstance to mitigate the crime. 4. Defendant's Upbringing: There is no evidence that defendant had few opportunities in his life or came from very disadvantaged conditions. Defendant had a normal childhood, living in a home with his father, mother, sister, and brother. His father worked as a coal miner, and his mother stayed home to care for the children. Defendant grew up on the farm, playing with the cows and horses, and played basketball with friends. All his life, there were people to help defendant, including his grandmother; the chief of police; the army, which gave him free drug rehabilitation treatment; his employer in North Carolina, who gave him a house rent-free for repairs; and his wife. There is no evidence of mitigating value of defendant's lack of opportunity or disadvantaged family life. 5. Work Record: Defendant's employer did not testify on his behalf, and the evidence showed that defendant smoked marijuana on the job. There was simply no evidence that defendant had a good work record which would be of mitigating value. Two juries have considered the facts of this case, the circumstances of the crime, and defendant Quesinberry's mitigating evidence; and both juries have recommended the sentence of death. While McKoy error occurred during the resentencing of the defendant, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. I vote to find the McKoy error harmless in this case and to reaffirm the sentence of death. MITCHELL, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.