Opinion ID: 2103748
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Unanimity Requirement for Mitigators

Text: The defendant next asserts that the death penalty statute unconstitutionally fails to specify expressly that the jury can consider mitigating circumstances not unanimously found, contrary to Mills v. Maryland (1988), 486 U.S. 367, 108 S.Ct. 1860, 100 L.Ed.2d 384. The Mills Court found that the jury instructions there prevented consideration of mitigating factors found by only some of the jurors and required the jury to return a verdict form identifying each mitigating factor unanimously found to exist. Id. at 399-400. However, Indiana procedure provides for jury consideration of any mitigating factor, enumerated or not, without reference to unanimity. Thus, the Indiana procedure does not run afoul of Mills.