Opinion ID: 1351576
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The circumstances of the crime of which the defendant was convicted in the present proceeding and the existence of any special circumstance(s) found to be true.

Text: (b) The presence or absence of criminal activity by the defendant which involved the use or attempted use of force or violence or the express or implied threat to use force or violence. (c) The presence or absence of any prior felony conviction. (d) Whether or not the offense was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance. (e) Whether or not at the time of the offense the capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired as a result of mental disease or defect or the effects of intoxication. (f) Any other circumstance which extenuates the gravity of the crime even though it is not a legal excuse for the crime [and any sympathetic or other aspect of the defendant's character or record that the defendant offers] as a basis for a sentence less than death, whether or not related to the offense for which he is on trial. You must disregard any jury instruction given to you in the guilt or innocence phase of this trial which conflicts with this principle]. (g) You may further take into consideration the information provided by family members, teachers, neighbors and friends of the defendant in determining whether the defendant has any redeeming qualities, and any events in his life that reveal those qualities. .... .... .... .... .... . . Mitigating circumstances are any circumstances that do not constitute a justification or excuse of the offenses in question, but which, in fairness and mercy, may be considered as extenuating or reducing the degree of moral culpability. Aggravating circumstances are any circumstances are any circumstances [ sic ] attending the commission of the offenses in question which increase their guilt or enormity or adds [ sic ] to their injurious consequences, but which are above and beyond the essential elements of the offenses themselves. .... .... .... .... .... . . The weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances does not mean a mere mechanical counting of factors on each side of an imaginary scale, or the arbitrary assignment of weights to any of them. You are free to assign whatever moral or sympathetic value you deem appropriate to each and all of the various factors you are permitted to consider. In weighing the various circumstances you simply determine under the relevant evidence which penalty is justified and appropriate by considering the totality of the aggravating circumstances with the totality of the mitigating circumstances. To return a judgment of death, each of you must be persuaded that the aggravating evidence (circumstances) (are) so substantial in comparison with the mitigating circumstances that it warrants death instead of life without parole. (Parentheses and brackets in original.)