Opinion ID: 495040
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mandatory Presumption/Burden on Defendant

Text: 75 Campbell argues the Washington capital punishment statute creates a mandatory presumption in favor of the death penalty and places the burden on the defendant to prove there are sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency. The language of the statute and the construction placed on the statute by the Washington Supreme Court belie these contentions. Under the Washington scheme, a death sentence may be imposed only for aggravated first degree murder, after the jury finds a statutory aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt at the guilt phase of the trial. Wash.Rev.Code Secs. 10.95.020-.030. At the penalty phase, the jury is required to deliberate on the following question: Having in mind the crime of which the defendant has been found guilty, are you convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency? Wash.Rev.Code Sec. 10.95.060(4) (emphasis added). Evidence from the guilt phase carries over to the penalty phase. Wash.Rev.Code Sec. 10.95.060(3); Campbell, 691 P.2d at 951 (Rosellini, J., concurring). 76 The language of the statute clearly indicates that the burden of proof is on the state to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency. Wash.Rev.Code Sec. 10.95.060(4). Campbell's apparent contention that convince does not mean the same thing as prove has been rejected by the Washington Supreme Court. See State v. Mak, 105 Wash.2d 692, 718 P.2d 407, 444 (construing section 10.95.060(4) to place the burden of proof on the state, and suggesting that an instruction expressing the state's burden in terms of proving rather than convincing may be more appropriate), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 599, 93 L.Ed.2d 599 (1986); see also State v. Rupe, 101 Wash.2d 664, 683 P.2d 571, 593 (1984) (rejecting similar burden of proof argument). Moreover, the trial judge specifically instructed the jury at Campbell's sentencing proceeding that the state had the burden of proof: 77 During these special sentencing proceedings, the State bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency. 78 The law of this state presumes that a defendant enters the special sentencing meriting leniency, that is a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. This presumption continues throughout the entire proceeding unless you find it has been overcome by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. 79 As the instruction indicates, the state's burden of proof carries with it a presumption of leniency, a presumption which the state can overcome only by showing beyond a reasonable doubt that there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency. Campbell contends instead that the statute creates a mandatory presumption in favor of the death penalty (and a corresponding burden on the defendant to produce evidence of mitigating circumstances) because the statute compels the jury to return a verdict of death whenever the defendant fails to present any mitigating evidence at the sentencing proceeding. This argument ignores the fact that the sentencing jury has before it all the evidence from the guilt phase, including whatever mitigating evidence may have been presented by the defendant at the guilt phase. The jury's decision is not based solely on what is presented at the sentencing proceeding. Moreover, even if the defendant never introduced any mitigating circumstances at either phase of the trial, the state still bears the burden of overcoming the presumption of leniency, and the jury is free to consider any relevant [mitigating] factors in making its sentencing determination. Bartholomew, 683 P.2d at 1086-87. 80 Campbell's reliance on Mak, 718 P.2d at 444, is misplaced. That case simply states that there is no constitutional right to a presumption of leniency. It does not hold that there is no presumption of leniency created by the Washington statute. On the contrary, Mak says explicitly that the state bears the burden of proof on the issue. Id. That burden of proof necessarily carries with it a presumption in favor of the defendant. 81 Consistent with Lockett, 438 U.S. at 602-08, 98 S.Ct. at 2963-67, the Washington statute imposes no limits on the mitigating evidence a capital defendant may introduce at a sentencing proceeding, subject, of course, to minimal standards of probative value and relevance. Bartholomew, 683 P.2d at 1088. The statute also imposes upon the state the burden of proof at such a proceeding. The defendant cannot manufacture a presumption of death simply because he chooses not to present mitigating evidence. The jury in Campbell's case was properly instructed on the state's burden of proof and the presumption of leniency in accordance with Washington law.CONCLUSION 82 We reject Campbell's arguments. 8 The judgment of the district court is affirmed in its entirety.