Opinion ID: 1209703
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Arbitrariness or Irrationality

Text: Lawrence maintains and the district court concluded that just such an inconsistency is presented by the difference between these two jury verdictsone being a sentence of life imprisonment, one being a sentence of deatheven though the jury was considering the identical set of asserted mitigating circumstances in connection with both offenses. The district court summarized its reasoning as follows: It is irrational to conclude that Defendant proved a mitigating factor in regard to one count by a preponderance of the evidence, but that he did not meet this burden of proof in regard to another count. The inconsistent findings taint the balancing equation and point to the unavoidable conclusion that irrational, even arbitrary, jury conduct existed. Thus, the end result is that the jury arbitrarily used two different balancing equations to conclude that the aggravating factors sufficiently outweighed the mitigating factors on Count Eight, but not on Count Seven. Lawrence, 477 F.Supp.2d at 870. The government challenges this reasoning and we agree with the objection. However, to discern the fallacy in the district court's reasoning, it is helpful to first review the sentencing process under the Federal Death Penalty Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3591 et seq. Sentencing under the FDPA consists of three steps. First, the jury determines whether the defendant committed a death-eligible offense under 18 U.S.C. § 3591. Second, the jury determines whether at least one of the statutory aggravating factors set forth in section 3592 is present. Both of these determinations must be unanimous and must be made upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt. 18 U.S.C. § 3593(c), (d). Third, if the jury finds both a death-eligible offense and one or more of the statutory aggravating factors, the jury considers whether the statutory aggravating factor or factors found to exist, together with any non-statutory aggravating factors found to exist upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt, sufficiently outweigh the mitigating factor or factors found to exist, so as to justify a sentence of death. Section 3593(e). The defendant may present any information relevant to a mitigating factor and it is his burden of establishing the existence of any mitigating factor by a preponderance of the information. Section 3593(c). A finding with respect to a mitigating factor may be made by one or more jurors, while a finding with respect to any aggravating factor must be unanimous. Section 3593(d). The jury's overall sentencing verdict must be unanimous. Section 3593(e). That is, in particular, a verdict of death is properly reached only if the jurors unanimously find that the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh the mitigating factors. Section 3594. In this case, the jury found Lawrence guilty on every count of the indictment, including the two death-eligible offenses in Counts Seven and Eight. Under Count Seven, the jury found Lawrence guilty of attempted bank robbery, with the additional findings that he put in jeopardy the life of some person by the use of a dangerous weapon while engaged in attempting to take the money, and that he killed Bryan Hurst in attempting to commit armed bank robbery or in attempting to avoid apprehension for the commission of armed banked robbery. Under Count Eight, the jury found Lawrence guilty of using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to an attempted armed bank robbery, with the additional findings that he brandished a firearm during and in relation to the attempted armed bank robbery, that he discharged a firearm during and in relation to the attempted armed bank robbery, and that he murdered Bryan Hurst while using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to an attempted bank robbery. At the eligibility stage, the jury found unanimously that Lawrence met the age factor (eighteen or older), and the four intent factors for Counts Seven and Eight. The jury also unanimously found, for both Counts Seven and Eight, that the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt the presence of two statutory aggravating factors. At the penalty selection phase, the district court gave preliminary and final instructions. The district court instructed the jury to decide whether the government proved the existence of the two asserted non-statutory aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The district court also instructed the jury that mitigating factors could be found by one, more than one, or all of the jurors. Then each juror was to consider whether the mitigating factors found by him or her were sufficiently outweighed by all the aggravating factors, statutory and non-statutory, found by all of the jurors, so as to justify a sentence of death. The court explained that the jurors were to use the same procedures for both Count Seven and Count Eight, and recommended that they apply the procedure first to Count Seven and then to Count Eight. Further, and significantly, the court instructed the jurors to consider each count separately and independently: You must consider each count uninfluenced by your decision as to the other count. Your conclusion as to the appropriate punishment on Count 7 does not mean that your conclusion as to the appropriate punishment for Count 8 should be the same. JA 181-82. The court also told the jurors that they could not rely solely on the guilty verdicts from the trial or eligibility phases in making their findings, but could consider evidence presented during those phases along with the evidence presented in the sentencing phase. Finally, the court instructed the jury on the different burdens of proof required for the government to establish non-statutory aggravating factors on the one hand, and for Lawrence to establish mitigating factors on the other. During the sentencing hearing, Lawrence asserted fifty-one potentially relevant mitigating factors for the jury's consideration. The jurors indicated on the verdict forms for Count Seven and Count Eight the number of jurors who found each mitigating factor by a preponderance of the evidence. One or more jurors found forty-seven mitigating factors for both Count Seven and Count Eight. Comparing the jurors' votes on the two counts, the number of jurors who found a particular mitigating factor for Count Seven exceeded the tally for Count Eight for eighteen factors, the tally was the same for twenty-one factors (including four asserted factors which no juror found to be mitigating for either count), and the number of jurors who found a particular mitigating factor for Count Eight exceeded the tally for Count Seven for twelve factors. Most of the tallies that differed did so by one vote. The largest discrepancy was for asserted mitigating factor 45, mercy. Nine jurors found the mercy factor established for Count Seven, while only three found it established for Count Eight. As to Count Seven, where the jurors, cumulatively, made a total of 338 mitigating factor findings, these mitigating factors were collectively and unanimously deemed not to be outweighed by the aggravating factors, and a verdict of life imprisonment was returned. As to Count Eight, where the jurors, cumulatively, made a smaller total of 304 mitigating factor findings, these mitigating factors were collectively and unanimously deemed to be outweighed by the aggravating circumstances, resulting in a verdict of death. A facial comparison of the two jury verdicts thus shows them to be consistent, albeit different; not inconsistent. [4] The differences in the mitigation factor findings do not suggest that either of the two subject sentencing verdicts does anything but speak the real conclusions of the jury. See Powell, 469 U.S. at 64-65, 105 S.Ct. 471. The facial consistency or rationality of the two verdicts is further substantiated by the fact that the Count Eight offense implicated greater moral culpability than the Count Seven offense. Under Count Eight, the jury found that Lawrence, while using or carrying a firearm during an attempted armed bank robbery, murdered Bryan Hurst (i.e., with malice aforethought). Under Count Seven, the jury found that Lawrence, during an attempted armed bank robbery, placed another's life in jeopardy and killed Bryan Hurst. The Count Eight malice aforethought element, according to the instructions, required proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Lawrence either killed Hurst deliberately and intentionally or acted with callous and wanton disregard for human life. JA 116. The jury was not required to find malice aforethought to find Lawrence guilty under Count Seven. Further, the jury was instructed, in weighing the mitigating and aggravating factors, to render a reasoned decision on the propriety of life imprisonment or death with reference to the highest ideal of the law, justice, based on an even-handed weighing of circumstances in an effort to reach a fair result. JA 215-16. The district court instructed the jury that its decision as to the appropriate sentence on Count Seven did not require it to reach the same decision on Count Eight. It stands to reason that the jury very likely and very reasonably took the more culpable mens rea element of the Count Eight offense into account in weighing the mitigating and aggravating factors and determining the appropriate sentence for each offense. Yet, when the government makes this very argument, Lawrence cries Foul! He insists, consistent with the district court's reasoning, that if the jury engaged in such analysis, it would have acted contrary to the instruction that the weighing process be confined to the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The district court refused to conclude that the jury had so acted because the standard presumption that the jury followed the court's instructions had not been rebutted. Lawrence, 477 F.Supp.2d at 868. See Hill v. Mitchell, 400 F.3d 308, 325 (6th Cir.2005) (observing that federal courts generally presume that juries follow their instructions). Thus presuming that the jury had refrained from improperly considering the differences between the two death-eligible offenses, the court concluded that the differences in mitigating factor findings and the difference between the two verdicts could only be explained as products of irrationality. Such reasoning is fundamentally flawed. First of all, the jury instructions did not tell the jurors to abandon their common sense in evaluating the mitigating and aggravating factors. Nor, contrary to the district court's recollection, did the instructions direct the jury not to consider the elements of the underlying offenses for which the asserted mitigating circumstances allegedly mitigated the defendant's culpability. To the contrary, the instructions explicitly permitted the jurors to consider all the evidence presented: In making all the determinations you are required to make in this sentencing phase of the trial, however, you may consider any evidence that was presented during the trial phase and the eligibility phase, as well as evidence that will be presented during this sentencing phase. JA 182. The information thus properly considered by the jury necessarily included evidence it had found persuasive beyond a reasonable doubt that Lawrence had killed Bryan Hurst with malice aforethought. That the jury would have considered this evidence is entirely consistent with the requirement that the penalty selection process be expansive enough to permit the jury to make an individualized assessment of the defendant's character and culpability based on all relevant evidence. See Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 972-73, 114 S.Ct. 2630, 129 L.Ed.2d 750 (1994). Further, as indicated, the instructions affirmatively directed the jurors to consider the mitigating factors qualitatively and make a reasoned, even-handed, fair and just decision. The instructions defined mitigating factor as simply additional information about Daryl Lawrence's life or character or about the circumstances surrounding the offense that would suggest, in fairness and mercy, that a sentence of death is not the most appropriate punishment and that a sentence of life in prison without any possibility of release is the more appropriate punishment. JA 208, 213. This definition is roughly equivalent to that provided in the Federal Death Penalty Act, where mitigating factors is defined simply as factors in the defendant's background, record or character or any other circumstance of the offense that mitigate against imposition of the death sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 3592(a)(8). It is also consistent with the long-recognized notion that before a jury can undertake the grave task of imposing a death sentence, it must be allowed to consider a defendant's moral culpability and decide whether death is an appropriate punishment for that individual in light of his personal characteristics and the circumstances of the offense. Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman, 550 U.S. 233, 127 S.Ct. 1654, 1674,167 L.Ed.2d 585 (2007). It follows that, in order for a juror to have found the existence of an alleged mitigating factor established by a preponderance of the evidence, he or she needed to determine not just whether the facts alleged to be mitigating were sufficiently proven, but also whether those facts were properly considered as mitigating defendant's culpability. This calculus could hardly be made without reference to the culpability already found to be established beyond a reasonable doubt when the jury found Lawrence guilty of each of the two death-eligible offenses. The district court ignored this two-dimensional requirement of a mitigating factor finding. In fact, the district court's determination that the verdicts are inconsistent is premised on the fact that the mitigating factor tallies for Counts Seven and Eight are not identical. That is, the district court reasoned that because the alleged mitigating factors were the same for each count and the proofs in mitigation were the same, the jurors' findings should have been the same; otherwise, the findings are irrationally inconsistent. In this respect, the district court ignored the recognized prerogative of each juror to determine the weight to be given each asserted mitigating factor, which necessarily included determining, in the context of the given offense conduct, whether and to what extent the factor was in fact mitigating of culpability. See Davis v. Coyle, 475 F.3d 761, 773 (6th Cir.2007) (citing Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 114-15, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982)). Consideration of the list of asserted mitigating factors clearly illustrates the point. For instance, asserted mitigating factor 34 states, Daryl Lawrence is a human being. There can be little doubt that all twelve jurors readily concluded that Lawrence's humanity was established by a preponderance of the information. Yet, only four jurors found the factor established for Count Seven, and only five found it established for Count Eight. That most jurors found the factor not established clearly indicates that they did not view the established fact of Lawrence's humanity as carrying, in and of itself, any mitigating weight. This determination was within each juror's prerogative. Similarly, asserted mitigating factor 8 states, Daryl Lawrence's biological father died in 1981. Presumably there was no factual dispute about this occurrence and it was established by a preponderance of the information, yet no single juror found the fact to be mitigating. Facially, this, too, appears to be an entirely rational conclusion. Of course, the verdict forms do not disclose why the individual jurors' findings varied from count to count on thirty out of fifty-one asserted mitigating factors. Yet, clearly, discrepancies among jurors' findings do not, in themselves, evidence irrationality or the influence of some arbitrary factor. There could be any number of plausible explanations why twelve different jurors might or might not view any of fifty-one various factors to be mitigating of criminal culpability in relation to either of the death-eligible offenses. It was out of recognition that such an individualized assessment of the reason for the inconsistency would be based either on pure speculation, or would require inquiries into jury deliberations that courts generally will not undertake, that the Powell Court reaffirmed the general rule that inconsistent verdicts are not reviewable. 469 U.S. at 66, 105 S.Ct. 471. See also United States v. Agofsky, 458 F.3d 369, 373-74 (5th Cir. 2006) (speculation is insufficient to show arbitrary influence). Moreover, as mentioned above, there is a significant difference between inconsistencies in individual juror findings and inconsistencies between jury verdicts. Even the two cases on which Lawrence relies most heavily in urging an exception to the general rule (i.e., that inconsistent verdicts are not reviewable) recognize that, irrespective of discrepancies in juror findings, if the jury unanimously agreed on the determination whether the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors, there is no irrationality or arbitrariness. See Johnson, 223 F.3d at 676 (But of course jurors disagree among themselves; that is nothing new. They are required to agree about their verdict, not about every fact.); Wainwright, 80 F.3d at 1231-32. Both Johnson and Wainwright teach that irrespective of discrepancies in juror findings, such inconsistency is not shown to be materially arbitrary or irrational where the bottom line jury verdicts are unanimous and not inconsistent. Here, too, the bottom line verdicts on the two counts are clearly unanimous. They are different, but quite reasonably so, considering that jurors' mitigation findings differed and the degree of criminal culpability involved in the two offenses differed. In other words, the difference between the jury's bottom line verdicts does not bespeak logical inconsistency or irrationality, but rather, quite the opposite. To the extent the differences in the jurors' mitigation findings remain unexplained and may give rise to speculation, the fact remains that there is no evidence that any arbitrary factor most likely influenced the bottom line verdicts. See Agofsky, 458 F.3d at 373 (holding that death sentence is not to be vacated absent showing that arbitrary factor most likely influenced the sentence). In conclusion, we reiterate that, in some circumstances, inconsistent verdicts may pose a cognizable error if the inconsistency shows that the jury has not followed the court's instructions or that the jury did not speak their real conclusions. Powell, 469 U.S. at 64-65, 105 S.Ct. 471. The instant facts do not present either concern. In fact, the above scrutiny of the verdicts confirms the opposite conclusion, i.e., that the jury, in rendering two different sentencing verdicts, did follow the court's instructions and did speak their real conclusions. Hence, the verdicts are not inconsistent in any cognizable sense. Even if they were, they would not be reviewable absent some showing of irrationality, of which there is none. We therefore hold that the district court erred as matter of law when it set aside the jury's verdict of death on Count Eight. Understandably, Lawrence is not satisfied with this analysis. Yet, while we reject his inconsistent-verdicts challenge, protection from demonstrated jury irrationality is still available through appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence. Id. at 67, 105 S.Ct. 471; Getsy II, 495 F.3d at 307. Lawrence will have the opportunity to test the legal sufficiency of the verdicts in subsequent appellate proceedings, which have been held in abeyance pending this ruling.
In appeal No. 07-3004, Lawrence also appeals the district court's order partially granting his motion for new trial insofar as it requires a new sentencing hearing as a remedy, rather than simply ordering a life sentence be imposed on Count Eight. Because we have concluded that the district court erred in vacating the verdict of death on Count Eight, there will be no new sentencing hearing. Lawrence's cross-appeal is thus rendered moot.
Accordingly, Lawrence's motion to dismiss the government's appeal from the order partially granting his motion for new trial (No. 06-4626) is DENIED. Further, the district court erred as a matter of law, and therefore abused its discretion, when it set aside the verdict of death on Count Eight. Even if the asserted inconsistency of the sentencing verdicts on Counts Seven and Eight were deemed to present a reviewable question, Lawrence has failed to demonstrate that they are inconsistent and has failed to demonstrate that the Count Eight verdict was influenced by irrationality or any arbitrary factor. The district court's order vacating the verdict of death on Count Eight is therefore VACATED and the sentence of death originally imposed by the district court is REINSTATED. Finally, Lawrence's cross-appeal (No. 07-3004) is DISMISSED as moot.