Opinion ID: 2022193
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Independent Consideration of Jury Recommendation

Text: Article VII, Section 4 of the Indiana Constitution gives this Court the power ... to review and revise the sentence imposed in any criminal appeal. Meaningful appellate review of death sentences plays a crucial role in ensuring that the death penalty is not imposed arbitrarily or irrationally. [9] Id. at 1260 (citing Parker v. Dugger, 498 U.S. 308, 321, 111 S.Ct. 731, 739-40, 112 L.Ed.2d 812 (1991); Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 204-06, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2939-41, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976)). The United States Supreme Court emphasized that during the review process, it is important for state supreme courts to conduct an individualized determination on the basis of the character of the individual and the circumstances of the crime. Parker, 498 U.S. at 321, 111 S.Ct. at 739 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (emphasis in original). In Peterson, we clarified this Court's role in reviewing cases where the jury recommends against a death penalty but the trial court ultimately declines to follow the recommendation and imposes a death sentence. We independently consider the jury recommendation against death and determine whether the death penalty is appropriate. Peterson, 674 N.E.2d at 540. In determining whether the penalty is appropriate, we consider not only the application of the statutory aggravating and mitigating factors, and whether the former outweigh the latter, but also the consistency of the penalty with other death penalty cases in this state. Id. at 543. Ultimately, this review must involve a judgment as to a variety of factors not capable of precise mathematical ordering. Upon our independent review, we find that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt the two aggravating circumstances noted by the trial court: 1) Saylor committed murder by intentionally killing the victim, Judy VanDuyn, while committing robbery; and 2) at the time the murder was committed, Saylor was on probation after receiving a sentence for the commission of a felony. As mitigating circumstances, we find evidence of defendant's troubled childhood, which may have included sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, his having consumed some alcohol and drugs at the time of the offense, and his history of substance abuse. Unfortunately, this combination of factors is not uncommon. The mitigating weight, if any, warranted for these considerations is in the low range, individually and cumulatively. Id. at 543. We specifically note that the jury recommended against the death penalty. Indeed, the jurors heard the testimony and saw photographs of the graphic details of this terrible crime, yet advised the trial court not to sentence the defendant to death. Nevertheless, the legislature vests the trial court with final authority for determining sentences in capital cases subject to this Court's power to review and revise sentences. IND. CONST. art. VII, § 4. In this respect, the penalty here is very similar to the one imposed in Peterson, where we found similar mitigating circumstances to be of low weight and clearly outweighed by the aggravating circumstances. This case is unlike Schiro v. State, 669 N.E.2d 1357 (Ind.1996), reh'g denied, where the jury never reached the conclusion that the defendant intended to kill the victim. To the contrary, in this case the jury convicted Saylor of both intentional murder and felony murder. Nor does this case present circumstances or facts such as those that made the jury recommendations against death persuasive notwithstanding the trial court's conclusion to the contrary. See, e.g., id. at 1359; Roark, 644 N.E.2d at 572; Kennedy v. State, 620 N.E.2d 17, 19-20 (Ind. 1993); Jackson v. State, 597 N.E.2d 950, 956 (Ind.1992); Martinez Chavez v. State, 534 N.E.2d 731, 735 (Ind.1989), reh'g denied, 539 N.E.2d 4 (Ind.1989). After giving due consideration to the jury's recommendation, we determine that the death penalty is appropriate under the statute. This sentence is proportionate not only to the nature of the offense but also to the sentences approved for other capital murder defendants in other Indiana cases.