Opinion ID: 213950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence To Support Aggravating Factor

Text: At the close of the penalty phase evidence, Montgomery moved to dismiss the statutory aggravating factor that she committed the offense in an especially heinous or depraved manner in that it involved serious physical abuse to the victim, Bobbie Jo Stinnett. Montgomery argued that the evidence showed that she used only the force necessary to commit the offense and thus the evidence was insufficient to submit the factor to the jury. The motion was denied, and the jury returned a unanimous verdict that the aggravating factor had been proved. Montgomery renews her challenge on appeal, arguing that she could not complete the kidnapping resulting in death without strangling Stinnett and performing a cesarean-section delivery of the infant. [10] Montgomery claims that she did not cause or intend to cause more suffering than required to complete the offense and that the government thus failed to prove that she committed the offense in a heinous or depraved manner in that it involved serious physical abuse to Stinnett. Montgomery's claim of error is based on her offense conduct, but the statute focuses on the harm inflicted on the victim. The aggravating factor is met if [t]he defendant committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim. 18 U.S.C. § 3592(c)(6). Most federal offenses that carry the death-penalty punishment could be fairly characterized as heinous, cruel, or depraved. See Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 428-29, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 64 L.Ed.2d 398 (1980) (A person of ordinary sensibility could fairly characterize almost every murder as `outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible and inhuman.'). Accordingly, the statute limits the application of the aggravating factor to offenses that involve torture or serious physical abuse to the victim. § 3592(c)(6). The limiting construction, along with the jury instructions defining the statute's terms, provides a meaningful basis for distinguishing the few cases in which [the death penalty] is imposed from the many cases in which it is not. Godfrey, 446 U.S. at 428, 100 S.Ct. 1759 (quoting Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 313, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972) (White, J. concurring)). We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to submit the aggravating factor to the jury and that a rational trier of fact could have found the aggravating circumstance to exist beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Ortiz, 315 F.3d 873, 902 (8th Cir.2002) (standard of review). To constitute serious physical abuse for purposes of § 3592(c)(6), the defendant must have inflicted suffering or mutilation above and beyond that necessary to cause death. United States v. Agofsky, 458 F.3d 369, 374 (5th Cir.2006). The jury instruction stated as much, defining serious physical abuse as significant or considerable amount of injury or damage to the victim's body and requiring that the defendant intended the abuse in addition to the killing. Overwhelming evidence supported the jury's verdict. Montgomery mutilated Stinnett's body to remove the infant from Stinnett's womb. Montgomery confessed to using a rope to strangle Stinnett until she was unconscious. Montgomery then punctured Stinnett's abdomen with a kitchen knife. The medical examiner testified that this likely caused Stinnett to rouse and that the two women struggled after Stinnett regained consciousness. The blood caked between Stinnett's toes indicated that she had lost a significant amount of blood before and during the struggle. The autopsy revealed that there were two ligature strangulations, and the medical examiner opined that it was the second strangulation that resulted in Stinnett's death. Montgomery confessed to using a kitchen knife to make an incision along Stinnett's abdomen. The autopsy revealed that the incision was jagged. After reaching into Stinnett's body and removing the fetus, Montgomery left Stinnett's mutilated body on the floor. The dining room was covered in blood, and Harper described her daughter's body as looking like her stomach had exploded. The evidence thus supported the determination that Montgomery committed the offense in an especially heinous or depraved manner in that it involved serious physical abuse to Stinnett.