Opinion ID: 1228419
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the old act

Text: For several decades prior to 1974, murder was defined as found in § 16-51, Code of Laws of South Carolina (1962) [1] , as: `Murder' is the killing of any person with malice aforethought, either express or implied. The punishment for murder, as set forth in § 16-52, provided for the punishment of death unless the jury recommended the defendant to the mercy of the court, whereupon the punishment was reduced to life imprisonment. In 1972, in the case of Furman v. Georgia , 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed. (2d) 346, the United States Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment statutes, such as ours, which gave to the judge or jury complete discretion in determining whether a defendant should receive the penalty of death or a lesser punishment, violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. In the case of State v. Gibson , 259 S.C. 459, 192 S.E. (2d) 720 (1972), we recognized the Furman ruling and remanded Gibson to the lower court for resentencing to life imprisonment under § 16-52.