Opinion ID: 1494221
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Sentencing Decision

Text: The jury returned its recommendations on January 28, 1999. [433] Eleven of the 12 jurors found the existence of the statutory aggravating circumstance that the murder was premeditated and the result of substantial planning, while one juror did not. The jury found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating ones, and recommended by a vote of 10 to 2 that the death penalty be imposed. The trial court sentenced Capano to death on March 16, 1999, based on its finding that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt the statutory aggravating circumstance that Capano had premeditated and substantially planned Fahey's murder. [434] The trial court also found that the State had proved by substantial and reliable evidence the existence of six non-statutory aggravating circumstances, and that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the five mitigating circumstances that also existed. [435] One of the nonstatutory aggravating circumstances found by the trial court was the defendant's disdain for authority. [436] The trial court stated that it also is noteworthy that defendant breached many rules the Court imposed during these proceedings. The Court, directly, and through counsel, on numerous occasions set forth rules to defendant which it expected him to follow, and defendant consistently violated those rules. He openly defies authority. [437] In remarks accompanying the handing down of the sentence, the trial court noted that in spite of the limits of allocution, Capano had specifically refused to ask for mercy, showed no remorse, and continued his attack on the decision of the jury [and] the disloyalty of those who testified against him.... [438]