Opinion ID: 2148851
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Excessiveness of the Death Penalty

Text: Defendant next asserts that his death sentence is excessive and inappropriate given the evidence of his rehabilitative potential and other mitigating evidence presented at the sentencing hearing. We disagree. Analysis of the propriety of the death sentence requires an individualized consideration of the circumstances of the offense and of the character and background of the offender. Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 110-12, 71 L.Ed.2d 1, 8-9, 102 S.Ct. 869, 874-75 (1982); People v. Strickland, 154 Ill.2d 489, 534, 182 Ill.Dec. 551, 609 N.E.2d 1366 (1992). In deciding whether imposition of the death sentence in a particular case is excessive, this court examines whether the circumstances of the crime and the character of the defendant are such that the deterrent and retributive functions of the ultimate sanction will be served by imposing the death penalty. People v. Tye, 141 Ill.2d 1, 29, 152 Ill.Dec. 249, 565 N.E.2d 931 (1990). The evidence presented at trial established that defendant committed a cold-blooded, unprovoked murder: he strangled and beat the victim and then set him on fire in a scheme to steal his VCR so that he could purchase cocaine. Additionally, the State presented significant evidence in aggravation. Defendant's criminal history included theft, criminal damage to property, battery and resisting arrest. He showed little, if any, remorse for his actions and, since being incarcerated, he has been involved in physical altercations and a shank was found in his cell. In contrast, the evidence defendant presented in mitigation was minimal, consisting of testimony that defendant felt unloved as a child, that he began sniffing glue at the age of 13, and that, during the four years he had fled the jurisdiction, defendant procured gainful employment and a steady girlfriend. Under the circumstances, the trial court's determination that the aggravation evidence outweighed the mitigation evidence is supported by the record. Defendant nevertheless urges this court to find that the circumstances of the instant case are similar to those in a limited number of cases in which this court has found a death sentence excessive where the offenses were triggered by or resulted from substantial extenuating circumstances. See People v. Walcher, 42 Ill.2d 159, 246 N.E.2d 256 (1969); People v. Crews, 42 Ill.2d 60, 244 N.E.2d 593 (1969); People v. Johnson, 128 Ill.2d 253, 131 Ill.Dec. 562, 538 N.E.2d 1118 (1989). We decline to do so. The record provides no support for defendant's assertion that he could not control his actions at the time of the murder because of the excessive quantity of cocaine he had ingested. To the contrary, the calculated manner in which the murder was perpetrated reveals that defendant was in control of his faculties at the time of the offense. We therefore conclude that the trial court did not err in imposing the death penalty under these circumstances.