Opinion ID: 1858107
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Aggravating Circumstances/Assignments of Error 15 and 18

Text: Defendant asserts the jury was erroneously and repeatedly charged during voir dire that if it found defendant guilty of one of the underlying felonies at the guilt phase, it had also found one of the aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. Regarding these instructions to the jury during voir dire, we note initially defendant did not request any special instructions in this regard nor did he object to the trial judge's statements. Additionally, the trial judge correctly instructed the jury on the State's burden of proof regarding the guilt and penalty phases at the close of both of these phases of trial, curing the error. [9] Cavazos, 610 So.2d at 128. The State was not alleviated of its burden of having to prove an aggravating circumstance during the penalty phase. The trial court in penalty phase instructions did not mention defendant's concession of guilt nor did it charge or intimate the jury's guilt phase findings somehow relieved it of the responsibility of deciding punishment based on a fair assessment of all relevant criteria including aggravating and mitigating evidence. Jurors were charged relative to the State's burden of proof and the requirement that they must find an aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt before voting to impose the death penalty. At the penalty phase, the State reintroduced all of the evidence it had introduced at the guilt phase necessary to prove the elements of the underlying felonies of armed robbery and aggravated burglary. At the conclusion of the penalty phase, the trial court instructed the jury as to the alleged aggravating circumstances and gave the jury definitions of the underlying felonies. There is no support in the record for defendant's contention the trial judge's statements in voir dire, even if improper, gave the jury the impression in the penalty phase it did not have to find the existence of an aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt.