Opinion ID: 750665
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Inadequate Weighing by the State Courts

Text: 44 The LaGrands argue that the state courts did not adequately consider the mitigation evidence presented at the sentencing. They rely on the panel opinion in Jeffers v. Lewis, 974 F.2d 1075, 1079 (9th Cir.1992): [when] there is a risk that mitigating evidence in [a] case was not fully considered, [Petitioner's] sentence of death cannot stand. 45 However, this court took the Jeffers case en banc, and affirmed the district court's denial of the petition. Jeffers v. Lewis, 38 F.3d 411 (9th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1071, 115 S.Ct. 1709, 131 L.Ed.2d 570 (1995). There we said, quoting Jeffries v. Blodgett, 5 F.3d 1180, 1197 (9th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1191, 114 S.Ct. 1294, 127 L.Ed.2d 647 (1994): [D]ue process does not require that the sentencer exhaustively document its analysis of each mitigating factor as long as a reviewing federal court can discern from the record that the state court did indeed consider all mitigating evidence offered by the defendant. Jeffers, 38 F.3d at 418. 46 The LaGrands do not argue that the state courts refused to consider any of their proffered mitigating evidence. They argue that the mitigating circumstances were not considered fully. However, the federal courts do not review the imposition of the sentence de novo. Here, as in the state courts' finding of the existence of an aggravating factor, we must use the rational fact-finder test of Lewis v. Jeffers. That is, considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, could a rational fact-finder have imposed the death penalty? The answer is yes. 47 The aggravating circumstances of pecuniary gain, a murder committed in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner and prior conviction of a felony involving the use or threat of violence were well supported in the record. While there were mitigating factors, such as the LaGrands' ages (Walter was 19; Karl, 18), their prior home life and their remorse, a rational sentencer could have nevertheless imposed the death penalty. 48