Opinion ID: 2084452
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: case comparisons

Text: We review the comparison cases to determine if those similarly culpable to or more culpable than defendant generally receive life sentences rather than death sentences. See Chew II, supra, 159 N.J. at 210, 731 A. 2d 1070. Such a finding would support a claim of disproportionality, because it would provide evidence of a societal consensus that the death penalty is not imposed in cases similar to this one. We consider each comparison defendant's motive, premeditation, justification or excuse, evidence of mental disease, defect, or disturbance, knowledge of the victim's helplessness, knowledge of the effects on nondecedent victims, age, involvement in planning the murder, violence and brutality of the murder, injury to nondecedent victims, prior record, other unrelated acts of violence, cooperation with authorities, remorse, and capacity for rehabilitation. Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. at 155, 613 A. 2d 1059. With regard to the actual mechanics, we analyze each case to determine if defendant is more or less deathworthy than the comparison defendant. If defendant is less deathworthy than a life-sentenced defendant, that conclusion supports defendant's claim of disproportionality. If, however, defendant is more deathworthy than a life-sentenced defendant, that detracts from defendant's claim. After we compare defendant to all of the comparison cases, we determine if the results demonstrate that cases more deathworthy than defendant's generally receive life sentences, which would strongly indicate disproportionality. The parties have agreed upon fourteen comparison cases. We base our discussion of the comparison cases on the AOC records of those cases, which are summarized in Appendix A. In our discussion of the cases, we omit reference to irrelevant factors.
We first address cases in which the comparison defendants have been sentenced to death, in order to determine if defendant is more or less culpable than those defendants.