Opinion ID: 154173
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mr. Davis’s Plea for Mercy:

Text: Mr. Davis exercised his right of allocution during the closing argument of the penalty phase. He apologized for his commission of the crime, again stated that he, not Ms. Fincham, was the guilty one, and asked for life.22 The court correctly instructed the jury that they must “determine the facts from the evidence you have heard during the entire trial including any additional evidence presented during the penalty phase hearing.” Jury Instruction No. 1, R. Vol. IV, Vol. 2 at 386. It further instructed the jury that “[t]he unsworn statement of the defendant is not evidence.” Id. at 387. In instructing the jury on mitigation, the court stated that the jury “should consider all of the evidence presented at the trial and the sentencing hearing as it relates to mitigating factors.” Jury Instruction No. 4, id. at 392. Mr. Davis argues that these instructions amounted to a direction “not to give any independent mitigating weight to Davis’ expressions of remorse and his plea for mercy,” Appellant’s Opening Br. at 93, and that the jury was thereby precluded from considering relevant and powerful mitigating evidence. We note, however, Mr. Davis made no objection to the instructions when given. 22 Mr. Davis said, in part, “I stated before, I’m the guilty one. Becky was not guilty. She was not guilty of murdering Ginny May. The only thing Becky was guilty of was marrying me.” R. Vol. V, Vol. 33 at 50. -52- The Colorado Supreme Court, whose analysis the district court adopted, held that, considering the instructions as a whole and in the context of the sentencing hearing, there was no reasonable likelihood that the jury applied them in a way to prevent it from considering constitutionally relevant evidence. Davis I, 794 P.2d at 193. We agree. First, considering the particular language of Instruction No. 1, the court told the jury that it was its “duty to determine the facts from the evidence” it had heard. The court went on the discuss objections by lawyers, reminding the jury that it should not “draw any conclusions from such objections or from [the court’s] rulings on the objections.” Instruction No. 1, R. Vol. IV, Vol. 2 at 386-87. The court then instructed the jury, “[w]hen I told you not to consider a particular statement, you were told to put that statement out of your mind, and you may not consider any statement in your deliberations which you were instructed to disregard. The unsworn statement of the defendant is not evidence.” Id. at 387. That instruction plainly told that jury that there were certain statements made throughout the trial which it was specifically told to disregard. When the jury was told to disregard a statement, it was to “put that statement our of your mind.” Id. The jury was not told to disregard Mr. Davis’s unsworn statement. Rather, it was simply reminded that the statement was not “evidence.”23 23 The Colorado Supreme Court observed that a statement in allocution is not technically evidence, since, under applicable Colorado law, evidence consists of the sworn statements of witnesses. Mr. Davis does not claim the court erred in instructing the jury that Mr. Davis’s statement was not, in fact, evidence. -53- Moreover, both the state and Mr. Truman alluded to Mr. Davis’s statement in their closing arguments, and referred to particular statements he made therein. And Mr. Truman echoed Mr. Davis’s plea for mercy at the end of his closing statement. Viewed both individually and in context, we are satisfied that there is no “reasonable likelihood” that the jury interpreted the court’s instructions to prevent it from considering Mr. Davis’s statement for what it was -- an unsworn personal plea from the defendant, echoed by his own attorney, for life rather than death.