Opinion ID: 686522
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Proportionality Review of Sentence

Text: 32 LaRette argues that the Missouri Supreme Court violated his Eighth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights by the manner in which it reviewed the proportionality of his sentence under Mo.Rev.Stat. Sec. 565.014.3. This contention is foreclosed by our recent decisions in Foster, 39 F.3d at 882, and Murray v. Delo, 34 F.3d at 1376-77. The statute gave LaRette notice that the proportionality of his sentence would be reviewed on direct appeal. See Mo.Rev.Stat. Sec. 565.014.3(3). The Missouri Supreme Court then performed that review and concluded that the penalty was not disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases. LaRette, 648 S.W.2d at 105. The Constitution does not require us to look behind that conclusion. Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 656, 110 S.Ct. 3047, 3058, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990).