Opinion ID: 2263096
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Waiver of Jury at Sentencing

Text: Appellant contends that the record fails to establish a knowing and voluntary waiver of jury sentencing. The circumstances pointed to by Appellant in support of his argument are: the lack of questioning for the purpose of assuring the court of the absence of threats, promises, or inducements; the lack of questioning as to Appellant's mental health; defense counsel's urging of a court trial, rather than a jury trial; and Appellant's poor mental state at the time of the sentencing waiver colloquy because it occurred immediately after the court's finding of Appellant's guilt. Appellant also argues that the court's description of jury deliberation in a sentencing proceeding as incomplete, confusing, and inaccurate to a point where it could have induced Appellant to reject the option of a jury sentencing. In response, the State argues that the record of the trial court's inquiry supports its acceptance of the waiver as voluntary and knowing. The State contends that the inquiry conducted here was comparable to the inquiry and jury sentencing waiver in Baker v. State, 367 Md. 648, 790 A.2d 629 (2002) and Thanos v. State, 330 Md. 77, 622 A.2d 727 (1993), and shows that Abeokuto, an educated man, possessed sufficient knowledge of his jury sentencing right and understood what he was doing in waiving that right. Moreover, the State urges that, Appellant's waiver of jury sentencing should be viewed in light of this previous waiver of jury trial. In addition, the State asserts that the trial court bestowed upon Appellant comprehensive and accurate advice on his right to jury sentencing. The State notes that Appellant's election of a court sentencing arose from his discussions with his defense counsel. Immediately after the guilt findings by the trial judge, the prosecutor, with the consent of defense counsel, offered a written version of an advisement of rights litany to be used by the trial judge. [18] The trial court accepted the proposal, read aloud the litany, and, at the end of the relatively lengthy recitation, asked a few questions of Appellant, which questions also were part of the offered litany. The colloquy between the court and Appellant was as follows: COURT: Mr. Abeokuto, we have now concluded the guilt phase of your trial and you have been convicted of murder in the first degree. The next phase of your trial is the sentencing phase at which it will decided whether the sentence to be imposed on the murder conviction shall be death, life without parole, or life imprisonment. Your trial was conducted before the Judge sitting without a jury. You are not obliged to maintain that same election for sentencing, however, because you were tried by the Judge, if you elect to be sentenced by a jury, you will be sentenced by a jury that is selected for the purpose of sentencing you. A jury is comprised of twelve citizens selected from the voter rolls and motor vehicle rolls of this jurisdiction. You, with our attorney, would have an opportunity to examine all potential jurors as part of the process of selecting twelve jurors. If a potential juror holds a belief either for or against capital punishment which would prevent or substantially impair him or her from being impartial, that juror would not be allowed to serve as a juror in this case. In order to secure a death sentence, it is the obligation of the State of Maryland to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were a principal in the first degree to the murder, that is, the murder was committed by your own hand and that one or both of the aggravating circumstances listed in the notice of intent to seek a death penalty exists. The same burden of proof and standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt exists regardless of whether you elect to be sentenced by the Court or by a jury. If you elect to be sentenced by a jury, each of these threshold determinations must be unanimous, that is, all of the jurors must agree upon. If the sentencer, whether Court or jury, finds that the State has satisfied its burden, the sentencer will go on to consider whether any mitigating circumstances exist. Mitigating circumstances are any circumstances relating either to yourself or this crime that would tend to make a sentence of death less appropriate. The statute lists seven circumstances that are considered to be mitigating. To be considered there must be proof of the existence of any of these circumstances by a preponderance of the evidence. This burden exists whether the sentencer is the Court or the jury. The statutory mitigating circumstances that the jury must consider are these: One, the Defendant has not previously been found guilty of a crime of violence, entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of a crime of violence, or have a judgment of probation or a stay of entry of judgment entered on a charge of crime of violence. Crime of violence as used in the statute means abduction, arson, escape, kidnapping, manslaughter, except involuntary manslaughter, mayhem, murder, robbery, or rape or sexual offense in the first or second degree, or any attempt to commit any of these offenses or the use of handguns in the commission of a felony or other crime of violence. Number two, the victim was a participant in the Defendant's conduct or consented to the act which caused the victim's death. Number three, the Defendant acted under substantial duress, domination or provocation of another person, but not so substantial as to constitute a complete defense to the prosecution. Number 4, the murder was committed while the capacity of the Defendant to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired as a result of mental incapacity, mental disorder, or emotional disturbance. Number 5, the youthful age of the Defendant at the time of the crime. Number 6, the act of the Defendant was not the sole proximate cause of the victim's death. And, number 7, it is unlikely that the Defendant will engage in further criminal activity that would constitute a continuing threat to society. In addition to the seven listed mitigating circumstances, the sentencer may write down any other fact or circumstance it finds to be mitigating. That is anything about you or the trial that would make a sentence of death less appropriate. This includes anything relating to your background as well as your relevant and material conduct up to and including this sentencing proceeding, as well as any factor causing one to feel sympathy or mercy toward you. Mercy in and of itself may be considered a mitigating circumstance. Again, mitigating circumstances must exist by a preponderance of the evidence. Further, with respect to nonstatutory mitigating factors, it is necessary, too, that the sentencer be convinced both of the fact or circumstance exists and that it is mitigating. As with the listed mitigating circumstances, this is the same whether the sentencer is the Court or a jury. Unlike the matters on which the State bears the burden of proof, if you elect to be sentenced by a jury, the jury need not be unanimous with respect to whether a particular mitigating circumstance exists other than mitigating circumstance number one, which they must unanimously find. This is true as to both the listed mitigating circumstances and the other mitigating circumstances. If after a period of deliberation the sentencing jury cannot unanimously agree on the existence of a particular mitigating circumstance, those jurors finding the mitigating circumstance will be instructed to consider it in determining the appropriate sentence. Those jurors finding that the mitigating circumstance does not exist will not consider it. If all of the jurors agree that no mitigating circumstance has been proven, they will be instructed to enter a sentence of death. Similarly, if the Court, sitting without a jury, would find that no mitigating circumstance exists, the Court would also enter a sentence of death. If the Court or any juror finds that one or more mitigating circumstances has been proven, the Court or jury will balance those mitigating circumstances, if found to exist, against the aggravating circumstance that has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to determine whether the sentence should be death or not death. The same balancing process is undertaken by a jury or the Court. In the event of a jury sentencing, all jurors will balance the mitigating circumstances unanimously found to exist and each individual juror will balance as well mitigating circumstances found by that juror to exist. Whether the sentencer is the Court or a jury, the State bears the ultimate burden to establish the propriety of a death sentence. If the sentencer, is the court or jury, the State bears the ultimate burden to establish the propriety of a death sentence. If the sentencer, whether court or jury, concludes that the mitigating circumstances outweigh the aggravating circumstances, the sentence may not be death. If the mitigating circumstances and aggravating circumstances are in even balance, the sentence may not be death. Only if the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances is a sentence of death to be imposed. Where the sentencer is a jury, the outcome of the balance must be a unanimous conclusion of the jury. The need for jury unanimity has been noted on several occasions. If after a reasonable period of deliberation the jury is unable to reach agreement unanimously on any matter for which unanimity is required, including whether a sentence of death should be imposed, then the Court shall not impose a sentence of death. If the sentencer determines that the sentence shall not be death, then the same sentencer shall proceed to determine whether the sentence should be life or life without parole. If the sentencer is a jury and they aren't able to reach a verdict on the issue of death within a reasonable period of time, then the sentence of death shall not be imposed and the same jury shall nevertheless proceed to consider the question of life or life without parole. If the sentencer is a jury, a sentence of life without parole must be a unanimous decision. If the jury cannot achieve unanimity on the issue of life without the possibility of parole after a reasonable period of deliberation, the sentence of life must be imposed. If you choose the Court as the sentencer, then I must consider whether life or life without parole is appropriate if I determine that death is not the proper sentence. Do you have any questions concerning what I have described and read to you in these instructions? DEFENDANT: No. COURT: Have you had an opportunity to discuss your election with your attorney, [defense counsel]? DEFENDANT: Yes. COURT. Do you understand the various distinctions that I have outlined for you? DEFENDANT: Yes. COURT: What is your age? DEFENDANT: 24 COURT: What is your educational background? DEFENDANT: Some college. COURT: What is your election for sentencing, to be sentenced by the Court or to be sentenced by the jury? DEFENDANT: Court. COURT: Any other questions, [defense counsel] or [prosecutor]? DEFENSE COUNSEL: No, not from the defense. No. COURT: [Prosecutors]? PROSECUTOR: No, Your Honor. COURT: Mr. Clerk, would you file the election read and file this as Motions Exhibit Number 1  Court's Exhibit Number 1. According to the election, the court proceeded to sentence Appellant. It conferred, among other sentences, the sentence of death for the murder conviction. The right to a jury at a capital sentencing is a creature of statute. Bruce v. State, 328 Md. 594, 602, 616 A.2d 392, 396 (1992). A capital sentencing hearing shall be conducted before a jury unless the defendant waives the jury. Md.Code (2002, 2003 Repl.Vol., 2004 Supp.) Criminal Law Article, § 2-303(c)(3); Baker, 367 Md. at 690, 790 A.2d at 654 (citing the predecessor statute to § 2-303). A defendant's waiver must be knowing and voluntary. Baker, 367 Md. at 690, 790 A.2d at 654 (Citation omitted); Trimble v. State, 321 Md. 248, 262, 582 A.2d 794, 801 (1990). [19] When examining whether a defendant made a knowing and voluntary waiver, the court considers the totality of the circumstances, including the court's colloquy with the defendant. Baker, 367 Md. at 690-91, 790 A.2d at 654. We determine whether the court's explanation of the jury sentencing right is proper. Id.; Trimble, 321 Md. at 262-63, 582 A.2d at 801; Harris v. State, 295 Md. 329, 339-40, 455 A.2d 979, 984 (1983). We also determine whether the court made an effort to ensure that the defendant's waiver was knowing and voluntary by considering the adequacy of the court's inquiry into voluntariness based upon the facts and issues presented to the court. We base our conclusion on the record provided. Baker, 367 Md. at 691, 790 A.2d at 654. When determining whether a trial court properly instructed a defendant, we consider the accuracy and clarity of the court's statement of the law and whether the defendant had sufficient time to discuss the election with defense counsel prior to the court's inquiry. In Baker, Baker argued that his waiver of jury sentencing was not knowing and intelligent. Baker, 367 Md. at 690-91, 790 A.2d at 654-55. He contended that the court failed to mention the standard of proof applicable to the balancing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances and erred in stating that the jury's finding at trial that Baker was a principal in the first degree was binding at sentencing. [20] Baker, 367 Md. at 690, 790 A.2d at 654. We examined the waiver colloquy between the trial court and Baker, considered the totality of the circumstances, and concluded the waiver knowing and voluntary because the record reflect[ed] that the trial court made a thorough and reasonable effort to explain the sentencing proceeding to Baker and [made] sure that his waiver was knowing and voluntary. Baker, 367 Md. at 691, 790 A.2d. at 654. We stated: The trial court asked Baker and his counsel several times if they had been able to adequately discuss the question of whether to be sentenced by the court or a jury. Baker's attorneys were also asked if the court had adequately covered the advisements and they responded that the court had. Baker also stated [several times] that he did not have any questions, that he had a sufficient opportunity to discuss the election with his attorneys, and that he did not have any questions that his attorneys were unable to answer. Baker also responded that he was satisfied making his election at that time, that he understood that he could not change his mind, and that he did not need to have further time to discuss the election with his attorneys. Baker, 367 Md. at 691, 790 A.2d at 654-55. Although we found no facts in Baker that would call into question the defendant's mental or medication status at the time that would suggest that the trial judge should ask about them in the inquiry, the court asked Baker whether he was under the influence of any medication, or drugs, or alcohol that would affect his ability to understand the court's instructions, hear the court's questions, or answer the court's questions. Baker, 367 Md. at 662, 790 A.2d at 637-38. Baker replied that he did not. Id. The court also asked about his age and level of education. Id. The court characterized the standard of proof applicable to the balancing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances as outweighing, rather than characterizing it as the preponderance standard. Baker, 367 Md. at 660, 790 A.2d at 636. We concluded that this instruction, although somewhat ambiguous, did not rise to the level that it would dramatically increase the chance that Baker would choose to be sentenced by the court, rather than a jury. Baker, 367 Md. at 693, 790 A.2d. at 656. Thus, because the court's inquiry into the voluntariness of the election and the adequate instructions given by the court supplied the requisite knowledge concerning the election, we concluded the jury sentencing waiver to be valid. We engaged in the same analysis in Trimble, supra . In that case, we vacated a sentence of death because, during the colloquy by the court at the time of the jury sentencing waiver, the trial judge told Trimble that he had the authority to dismiss the jury (if it could not decide on a sentence within a reasonable time) and impose a life sentence, a statement which may have caused Trimble to believe that he had nothing to lose by electing to be sentenced by the court. Trimble, 321 Md. at 262-63, 582 A.2d at 801 (citing as controlling Harris v. State, 295 Md. 329, 455 A.2d 979 (1983) (holding that the defendant's waiver of jury sentencing was not knowing and voluntary because the court failed to instruct Harris that the jury would have to be unanimous before imposing death)). Because of the inaccuracy of the court's instruction, we vacated Trimble's death sentence even though he was represented by counsel at the time of the election. [21] In Thanos v. State, 330 Md. 77, 622 A.2d 727 (1993), we considered evidence of the voluntariness of the jury sentencing waiver, which we found to be knowing and voluntary. Rejecting Thanos' claim that the trial court erred in explaining his right to be tried and sentenced by a jury, we determined that his arguments were merely extensions of his [actual] claim that he was incompetent to stand trial. Thanos, 330 Md. at 94, 622 A.2d at 735. We found the incompetency claim to be devoid of merit because: None of Thanos's four expert witnesses at the sentencing proceeding ever suggested that he was incompetent to stand trial. While Thanos did make some peculiar remarks to the trial judge, his words on the whole were very lucid. He appeared to grasp all of his rights as they arose throughout the proceedings. He explained very clearly why he preferred conditions in the Super Max facility in Baltimore to those of the St. Mary's County Detention Center[, the reason he offered for preferring a court trial to a jury trial]. And he understood and insightfully articulated his tendency to become disruptive under stress, which reasonably justified his initial desire to absent himself from the proceedings. Thanos, 330 Md. at 86, 622 A.2d at 731. The record indicated that Thanos was lucid, insightfully articulate[], and appeared to grasp all of his rights as demonstrated by his statements during the proceedings and his responses to the court's questions. Thus, the record supported the trial court's finding of a voluntary waiver. After an examination of the totality of the circumstances on the record of the present case, we are unable to conclude with requisite confidence that Appellant made a knowing and voluntary waiver of a jury sentencing. Our confidence in the waiver is undermined because the trial court knew (or should have recalled) from testimony given at the competency hearing on 22 June 2004 that Appellant had been prescribed Geodon (an anti-psychotic medication) while in custody at the County Detention Center. The court failed at the sentencing waiver hearing to ascertain whether Appellant had been taking the medication since the competency determination; whether he currently was taking the medication; and, if so, whether Appellant was experiencing any side effects as alluded to by Dr. Inouye, at least insofar as they might impact adversely his ability to make a knowing and voluntary waiver some nine weeks after the competency determination. This line of inquiry, under the facts of the case, was important because Geodon ingestion may give rise to the side effects, among others, of sedation, nausea, dizziness, and confusion. PHYSICIANS' DESK REFERENCE 2517-20 (60 ed.2006); see also Facts About Geodon, available at http://www.geodon.co m/Geo-Pat_FactGeo_sid e_effects.asp (providing product information by the manufacturer, Pfizer Inc.); Geodon, Physicians' Desk Reference, 2005 WL 1158531 (2005) (providing information on common side effects by the Physicians' Desk Reference, current through the printing of the 2005 edition). The effect of the failure to make a specific inquiry on this point in the jury sentencing waiver is distinguishable from the absence of a similar inquiry during the jury trial waiver process because, in the latter, the court heard contemporaneous expert medical testimony regarding Appellant's competency to stand trial, which included learning of the prescription of Geodon, see supra Section III(A)(1). Thus, the information was fresh in the court's mind as it evaluated the waiver proceedings before it then. The jury sentencing waiver election, however, took place on 27 August 2004, nearly nine weeks after the court last heard testimony regarding Appellant's medication status. As Dr. Inouye stated at the competency hearing on 22 June 2004, the positive effects, if any, of Geodon may take weeks to display themselves. Whether the potential adverse side effects, if any, take as long to materialize is unexplored on this record, particularly so at the jury sentencing waiver proceeding. We do not hold, by finding this jury sentencing waiver colloquy insufficient to support a knowing and voluntary waiver, that every jury sentencing waiver colloquy must inquire into mental health and medication. As stated before, we do not require a specific or standard litany or colloquy in every case. [22] The necessary inquiry by the court to determine whether a jury sentencing waiver is knowing and voluntary is bound by the facts and circumstances of the particular case. Here, the trial court knew from the competency hearing that Appellant had been prescribed Geodon, an anti-psychotic drug that, not surprisingly, carries with it relevant potential side effects  information that easily could be found in the Physician's Desk Reference. [23] Because we vacate the sentences due to a finding of fault with the sentencing proceeding by four members of the Court, it is not-strictly necessary that we reach and decide the other preserved issues regarding sentencing. We nonetheless choose to offer some dicta guidance, however, on a few of them in order that, on remand, the trial court may consider that guidance should the circumstances recur at a new sentencing proceeding, as it seems to us they likely will. 2.